Eternal Gratitude
by Kalliope
Summary: A few surprises ahead, see if you can guess... there are clues.
1. Arabella

The house was silent. A dark figure appeared and blended into the shadow across the street. Like a statue, unmoving, it stood for a half hour before disappearing, melting suddenly away into the night as silently as it had come.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore sighed as he read over the letter for a second time. It was not the response he had hoped for. Hagrid and Madame Maxime had managed to contact a few giants, but they had not managed to gain much sympathy. Most of the giants did not want Voldemort in power, but they did not care enough to act. The matter of humans was of great unimportance to them, and from the sounds of Hagrid's letter the giants were about as accepting of Hagrid's human half as most people were of Hagrid's giant half.  
  
Dumbledore sighed again. Not a habit to foster, he chided himself as he stood up. No use worrying about problems, best to move forward and do something about them. But there were so many worries even he was somewhat confused what step to take next. Pondering his options Dumbledore paced the floor in front of the fire. The floor there was worn. Many times had Dumbledore paced this spot, and before him many headmasters had paced there also. It was as if the energy of the room was slightly more concrete there, and each headmaster in his own time had been drawn there to pace, back and forth, whenever they were troubled.  
  
Hagrid has been trying his best, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore himself had set up every anti-dementor protection possible, Sirius had collected Remus, they were getting the old gang together and would be ready for action soon, and Professor Snape. Well, Dumbledore admitted, Severus was bothering him most. He could not expect to hear from his potions master very often, but it had been a full six weeks since his last communication, and the last one had been on the grim side.  
  
Dumbledore pulled his thoughts back again. The best thing to do now was to come up with a new strategy for Hagrid. He simply could not fail to win over the giants. With this new purpose, Dumbledore stopped pacing and sat back down at his desk, took out a new piece of parchment and a quill and began to write.  
  
Scarcely had he finished when he heard movement outside his office. Alert, he moved silently over to the door, and listened. To his relief there was a knock, and a familiar voice.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore sir," the voice said, "it's me, Arabella." Dumbledore opened the door smiling broadly.  
  
"Ms. Figg, please come in, I was not expecting you until tomorrow at least."  
  
"I know sir, I'm sorry, but I couldn't wait. I exploded at Sirius and Remus when I found out they waited a week before coming to get me. Not that they had much choice of course, with the moon and all.." Her voice faded as she looked at him sheepishly with her big brown eyes.  
  
Dumbledore smiled even harder. Arabella had probably given them quite a tongue lashing. She had always been like that, so quick to anger. But she always felt bad afterwards, and it embarrassed her to admit one of her tantrums, so he did not linger on the subject. "How much did the pair decide to tell you?" he asked. It was the wrong question.  
  
Her smile faded into a snarl and the color in her cheeks flushed. "Not bloody much." She barked at him. "You'd think," she said, her voice getting louder which each word. "You would THINK, that after all these years showing up at my door, Remus and SIRIUS, an escaped CRIMINAL!"  
  
She had really worked herself up now, her fists were clenched tightly and her teeth were bared "Even WITH your letter I was a little unsure, but I didn't have much choice really, you know. I mean who else would know about mum."  
  
At this point she stopped abruptly and looked up at Dumbledore, who had quietly retreated behind his desk, ginning at her.  
  
"Sorry." She apologized for the second time that night. "I guess it has been rather stressful these last few days. I don't mean to yell at you." She looked unsure into Dumbledore's eyes.  
  
He had the insane desire to hug her. She was so passionate, but she had never quite gotten control over her temper. She had never been as close to him as some other of her friends, but he had, for many reasons, always thought of her as his grandchild. He could never tell her though, she was not an outgoing woman (he could see she was no longer a child) and her confidences were few, and hard earned.  
  
"My dear, I do not mind at all, I assume they told you nothing."  
  
"Only that Voldemort had returned, and that you needed to see me as soon as possible." She seemed to have regained control because she said this calmly as if they were taking about the weather. "I saw your letter was dated so long ago, I came as quickly as I could. I hope I didn't come to late."  
  
The worry was written plainly on her face, and on closer inspection Dumbledore noted that there were bags under her eyes, and her robes were quite dirty and torn.  
  
"There is no need to worry, if those two trouble makers had taken the time to explain you would know that there was no emergency." He caught a flicker of guilt in her face.  
  
"They might have mentioned the fact.." She practically whispered.  
  
"Hmmm" Dumbledore said thoughtfully, quickly looking down. He fussed with the papers on his desk, trying to hide the amused smile. She had not changed these 11 years. "Well," he said clearing his throat "I assume you have many questions, but it is too late for you to start my inquisition tonight. May I request a few hours of rest before you begin?"  
  
She smiled inwardly; he had always been like that, joking. If Albus Dumbledore was ever serious when it was not absolutely necessary she would eat herself. "Yes of course Professor, sir." She replied formally to him out of habit.  
  
"Arabella, you must call me Albus," he said kindly, walking over to a door that she had not even noticed. She probably was not supposed to have noticed it she realized. The most obvious things in the wizarding world are the ones most often missed. He opened the door and motioned her through to a small cozy room with a friendly fireplace with an armchair in front, a wardrobe, a small table with two chairs, and a single bed. Her few hastily packed things had been brought up by the house elves.  
  
"It's not much, but there is a bathroom through that door, and it is safe." He said, watching for her reaction.  
  
To his surprise her face lit up with a large smile. She walked over to him and placed her hand delicately on his shoulder.  
  
"Thank you Albus, you know how much this means to me."  
  
"Goodnight my dear, it is wonderful to have you back," and he slipped quietly out the door, shutting it behind him.  
  
Well, at least one thing had gone right tonight. Sirius and Remus had made it as far Arabella's house without mishap. With any luck he would be getting an owl from Fletcher, as well as Sirius and Remus in person. Dumbledore added a quick P.S. on his letter to Hagrid and tied the letter to the owl who had been perching quietly in the corner. Not even a minute passed from when the owl carrying Hagrid's letter left, that a new owl flew into the room and took up the place on the perch. Quickly cleaning up his quill and ink Dumbledore yawned. He had not been sleeping very well, but tonight he may finally get some rest. With a final glance around the office, making sure everything was in place he turned to the portrait of a sleeping lord. "Truffle cream" he said, and the lord opened one eye lazily as the portrait swung open.  
  
"Another late night?" Lord Dennis asked as Dumbledore began to shut the portrait.  
  
"Yes," he answered, "but it seems as if things are finally looking up"  
  
Lord Dennis did not answer; he had already fallen back asleep.  
  
***  
  
Miles away Harry Potter stirred uneasily in his bed. He had been tossing and turning ever since he had lain down to sleep. It's not as if he wasn't tired. After a week full of Dudley's new Exercise Program Harry was exhausted. The diet Dudley had been put on last summer had not quite done the trick, and the school nurse had written a threatening note along with a new exercise program that, unfortunately for Harry, involved Dudley waking up very early in the morning for a "light jog."  
  
To Harry's surprise Aunt Petunia had not insisted that Harry jog as well, but Harry soon realized that, like it or not, if Dudley was suffering he would be suffering too. Each morning at five a small earthquake woke Harry as Petunia wrestled Dudley out of bed. The screaming he might learn to ignore, but accompanied with the shaking of the entire house as Dudley threw his temper tantrum Harry was never able to sleep past five.  
  
At first Harry had enjoyed Dudley's early morning excursions. The sight of his bony Aunt and his marshmallow cousin in matching gray jogging suits was too much for Harry to handle. But at some point the novelty had worn off. Harry, forced to stay up late finishing his homework for school and then waking up to a mini earthquake everyday, was starting to feel a bit sleep deprived. So tonight he had decided to skip the homework and get a full night's sleep.  
  
Unfortunately for Harry, he tossed in his bed all night. He felt chills running up and down his spine as if someone was watching him. Finally unable to lie still he got up out of his bed and walked to the window overlooking Privet drive. It was quiet, nothing was moving. Harry turned away from the window, but stopped as something caught his eye. For a split second he had thought he saw someone in the shadows.  
  
Harry looked piercingly into the shadow, but he saw nothing. He must have imagined it. Shivering again he sat back down on his bed and grabbed his book "Flying with the Cannons" to take his mind off of the dark image. After five minutes of turning the pages blankly Harry decided he might as well use his time wisely. He got out his History of Magic book, lay back on his bed, and started reading about the Goblin rebellions of 1823. He fell asleep within 2 minutes. 


	2. Leaving the Dursleys

The next morning Harry was awakened by a thundering so loud he jumped out of bed. Just Dudley, he thought to himself, no need to get so jumpy. But he had good reason to be on edge, Voldemort was back. Harry had been witness to Voldemort's rebirth only a few months ago, and he waited impatiently for news between owls from his friends. It seems as if everything was fine so far. Not a single bad thing had happened between the end of the school year and now, but Harry knew something was coming. It was only a matter of time.  
  
Oh well, it was like Hagrid said; you just have to wait for what will come.  
  
Now fully awake Harry decided he might as well get up. Going over to his dresser he pulled out one of Dudley's old sweatshirts, rolled up the sleeves, and headed downstairs. Harry could still hear Aunt Petunia in Dudley's room, it seemed as if Dudley was being particularly stubborn this morning.  
  
Smiling to himself in the kitchen as he buttered a piece of toast, Harry watched the picture on the wall swing ominously. A few days after Harry had arrived home the Dursleys received an owl from Sirius. In no uncertain terms he had demanded that they treat his Godson nicely, and if he had reason to believe they were not. well, Sirius had not mentioned anything specific, but the hints were bad enough.  
  
The Dursleys had agreed to let Harry off of Dudley's diet, provided that Harry would not eat in front of Dudley. This had been good for both Harry and his Aunt and Uncle, as both parties felt the less time spent together the better.  
  
It was starting to get rather lonely now though. HE didn't mind not seeing the Dursleys he did mind not seeing anyone at all. The days blended together with every other day, and the summer inched its way forward. At least once every week he would send an owl to Ron asking if he could come stay with him the rest of the summer. And at least once a week Ron would send back an owl that his father promised Harry could come soon.  
  
Finally Harry heard Aunt Petunia and Dudley start out the front door. Dudley was already breathing hard from the fight he had put up. To Harry's dismay the door to the kitchen opened.  
  
"Morning" Uncle Vernon grunted, or something like it anyway.  
  
"Good morning Uncle Vernon," Harry replied as he started picking up what was left of his breakfast hastily. He could see the look in Vernon's eyes, and he knew it would be dangerous to stick around. "Well, see you then." Harry added as he grabbed his food and made quickly for the door.  
  
"Wait." Vernon grunted again. Harry stopped, collected himself, and turned around.  
  
Vernon was looking at Harry as if he was something a very bad dog had left behind.  
  
"You will have to pack today" Uncle Vernon stated.  
  
"Pack!" Harry exclaimed "Why should I pack, where are we going!" This was NOT going to be good, there was no place he could think of going with the Dursleys that would be any fun.  
  
"WE are not going anywhere," Vernon growled distastefully. "I am taking Petunia and Dudley on my business trip to the south of France. YOU, are staying with Mrs. Figg." Vernon watched with a malicious glint in his eye, knowing very well what Harry's reaction would be.  
  
"What!" Harry exclaimed in spite of himself. "For how long!"  
  
Vernon was outright smirking now, seeing the astonishment on Harry's face. "At least a month." He relished. "Now, get up to your room before Dudley comes back or you'll be eating carrots for dinner, boy."  
  
Harry fled the kitchen and slammed the door to his room just as Dudley came wheezing in the front door. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't miss the Dursleys, but he definitely could not imagine lasting a whole month with Mrs. Figg, the old lady down the street with all the cats. Mrs. Figg was nice to Harry, but her house smelled funny, and she made Harry look through albums full of pictures of her cats. A whole month Harry thought, his head spinning. He had to write Ron, Mr. Weasley HAD to let Harry stay with them, he couldn't take an entire month.  
  
Harry quickly scrawled out a letter to Ron explaining the situation, begging for Ron to let him come. He went over to Hedwig's cage, where she was sleeping. "Common girl" he cooed, stroking her gently. "Wake up, this is important." Hedwig opened her eyes and ruffled her feathers. She held out her leg to Harry and let him attach the letter. "Bring back an answer as soon as you can, if I'm not here I'll be at Mrs. Figg's house, but I don't know how you will be able to get me a letter there." Harry said, the panic he felt showing in his voice.  
  
Hedwig gave him a reassuring nip on his finger and flew silently out the window.  
  
Resigned, Harry began to pack up the few items he owned. It didn't take long before he lay on his bed in his empty room, dreaming longingly of the days he had spent with the Weasleys at the Burrow. If only they would let him come stay with them. But Voldemort was back now. Harry was pondering how he could be safer with Mrs. Figg than with the Weasleys when he fell into a restless sleep.  
  
***  
  
Mrs. Figg sat watching her television. She had never quite understood what it was muggles found so interesting about these moving pictures, but at the present she had little else to do. Just as she was starting to get into the show (a very funny one, she had to admit, there was a peculiar man doing silly walks) she felt a tug at her leg.  
  
"Yes Trouble?" she said to the black and white blotched cat looking up at her.  
  
"Merow" the cat answered, and Mrs. Figg raised her eye brows unbelievingly.  
  
"An owl, here?" She asked suspiciously. The cat glared back and stalked out of the room, its tail flicking.  
  
Mrs. Figg followed Trouble into her small dining room where there was, indeed, a harassed looking owl with a letter tied to it's leg, and five cats sitting around it.  
  
"Enough all of you" She reprimanded them, and they scattered hastily. Nevertheless, the second the letter had come off its leg the owl took off into the night.  
  
Mrs. Figg trembled as she opened the letter, she had not gotten an owl for 11 years. Upon reading it she collapsed into one of the chairs and sobbed into the table. A pure white cat flew gingerly onto the table and nipped Mrs. Figg.  
  
"Oh!" Mrs. Figg looked up, and to the cats seeming surprise she had a smile from ear to ear. "Scorn, it's wonderful" She stroked the cat reassuringly "My daughter is finally coming home!"  
  
***  
  
Harry sat up with a start.  
  
Harry had not been asleep for long, but he had been troubled with images of red eyes. The nightmare was fading fast, however he could remember a lake, and the moon, and then there was a loud scream. It seemed very important that he get closer to the lake, but his feet had been stuck to the ground. Somehow he had to get to the lake.  
  
Shaking himself Harry got up. It wasn't like him to be so lazy, but today he just slumped around his room. He moved from the bed, to the floor, and back to the bed again, his mind moving desperately through ways to escape from Mrs. Figg. 


	3. Mrs Figg

The next morning Harry stood in front of the Mrs. Figg's door. The Dursleys were already gone. They had only waited long enough for Harry to get out of the house before they locked the door, hopped in the car and left. No one looked back or waved goodbye, and Harry was left to haul the trunk by himself. It heavy, but even worse was the sense of dread filling him. This promised to be one of the worst months ever.  
  
The door to Mrs. Figg's house opened, and there standing in the doorway was Mrs. Figg.  
  
She looked different though, younger, if that was possible. There was a sparkle in her eye Harry hadn't seen before. Mrs. Figg smiled at Harry and helped him into the house, which smelled like bleach, not at all like cat.  
  
Harry looked around the room. The windows were opened, and it every surface was sparkling. Harry looked around the room in shock, until his roaming eye focused on one object. Sitting on one of the coffee tables was a wand.  
  
Mrs. Figg saw what Harry was looking at. "We have a lot to talk about dear." She said. "But first, there is someone in the Kitchen I would like you to meet. As well as some lovely chocolate cake."  
  
Harry let himself be shuffled into the kitchen. There was a chocolate cake already cut and sitting on the table. As well as a steaming mug of tea, and a person. She was short, only about 5'4" and had short dark brown hair with matching eyes. Her hair and eyes were both so dark they were almost black.  
  
"Harry, this is my daughter, Arabella!" Mrs. Figg was beaming proudly at her daughter, who was also beaming at her mother.  
  
"Hello Harry." Arabella moved over to him, trying to wipe her hands covered in chocolate on her robes and giving him a hearty handshake. "It's very nice to meet you at last, I've heard some wonderful things about you from Sirius and Remus."  
  
"Are they okay! Did you see them?" Harry exclaimed excitedly not even noticing the sticky chocolate on his hand.  
  
"Relax Harry!" Arabella pleaded laughing. "They are fine, everything is fine. I talked with them before coming here, if all goes well they should be able to visit very soon!"  
  
"Now," Mrs. Figg interrupted Harry before he could start to speak again. "No more talking until you try this cake! It will be better than usual as Arabella made it, not me."  
  
Harry smiled and sat down at the table along with Arabella and Mrs. Figg and began to eat the cake. She was right, it was very good.  
  
***  
  
The next few days were wonderful. Harry was waited on hand and foot by Mrs. Figg, and Arabella turned out to be a brilliant cook.  
  
Harry slowly got most of his questions answered, but some things Arabella and Mrs. Figg seemed rather vague about. He found out that Mrs. Figg had moved to Privet drive a few years before he was born, although she wouldn't say why, and that she had spent the last 11 years cut off from the entire wizarding world, including her daughter.  
  
Mrs. Figg obviously had missed her daughter, she was constantly bragging about her and telling Harry stories from Arabella's childhood. "Her teachers complained that she was too quiet until the day she lost her temper and turned her transfiguration teacher into a footstool." or "I remember I got an owl after the first day of school, she thought she would have no friends, poor dear."  
  
Arabella tried desperately to stop her mother, but ended up laughing with them. It was evident to Harry that Arabella had missed her mom too, but she didn't show it in such an obvious way.  
  
The strangest thing about Mrs. Figg was her cats. The first day Harry had seen no evidence that Mrs. Figg still had any cats, but since that day he had noticed cats coming and going at random times. Sometimes they had notes for Mrs. Figg, sometimes not. Mrs. Figg would exchange a few words with the cats, Harry supposed she must be able to understand them, and then the cats would leave again. When Harry asked Mrs. Figg what the cats where doing she changed the subject abruptly and Harry decided not to ask again.  
  
Everyday Harry waited for news about his friends and Sirius and Remus. Arabella told him that owls could not be sent here because they would attract too much attention, however she seemed to be getting information another way. Finally one day she gave Harry the message he had been waiting for.  
  
"Harry" Arabella came over to him smiling "I have good news, Sirius and Remus will be coming tomorrow."  
  
"Really!" Harry jumped up from the couch. "I'm so glad! I miss them so much, thank you Arabella!"  
  
Harry thought he saw a fleeting emotion pass over Arabella's face, but she controlled her self and smiled back at him. Maybe not so controlled. Looking into Arabella's eyes Harry saw pain, well disguised and buried deep down, but still there nevertheless. Arabella looked at Harry curiously and looked away, as if she knew what he had seen.  
  
"What do you think they would like for lunch tomorrow?" She asked "I want to have a big meal prepared, Sirius and Remus looked very thin when I saw them last." She turned back to Harry, perhaps he had imagined that look. "I think that Remus was cooking for himself and Sirius, which means that they have probably been eating toast and sandwiches the whole summer."  
  
Harry laughed. "I'm sure anything you make would be an improvement"  
  
Arabella looked at him thoughtfully. "I remember your mom gave me a recipe for chili. A recipe from her mother I believe. Would you like that Harry?"  
  
"From my mum? You knew my mum?" Harry asked excitedly. "How come you didn't tell me?"  
  
"I didn't know her very well Harry. We went to school together, but I didn't get to know her until after we graduated."  
  
Harry was anxious to ask questions, but he could tell from Arabella's tone of voice that it was not something she was ready to talk about.  
  
"Chili would be great. Maybe you can make some of that cake for desert too."  
  
"I'll make you a cake tonight." Arabella shaking her head at him, amused. "I have a surprise for dessert tomorrow."  
  
Harry grinned and watched as Arabella went into the kitchen. Later, while Harry was trying to teach Mrs. Figg to play chess Arabella brought sandwiches and cake out on trays.  
  
"Sorry guys" she said apologetically "It's not much, but it's a war zone in there, and I need to starve you enough so that you will be able to eat a lot tomorrow. Did I mention I'm cooking for twelve?"  
  
With that she turned on her heel and went back into the kitchen. Harry caught a glimpse of the kitchen as she opened the door, she hadn't been kidding when she had called it a war zone. The walls and floor were covered with food, and the table and counter was overflowing with dishes. Twelve? He thought confused. Were there more people coming? Sirius, Remus, Mrs. Figg, Arabella and himself made five.  
  
"It's okay dear, whenever she throws a big party she adds an extra person on to her group and then cooks twice of what she needs." Mrs. Figg said as if she had read Harry's mind. "Checkmate" She relished.  
  
Harry's mind was jerked back to the game, there was no way.  
  
"No Mrs. Figg," Harry said, barely able to choke back the laughs. "You can't move the knight diagonal, and you are trying to capture the KING, not the Queen."  
  
"Sexist game." Mrs. Figg mumbled. "Oh well, I'm completely hopeless I expect. How about we eat some cake and skip the sandwiches."  
  
Harry couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. 


	4. Friends and Enemies

Harry woke up early the next day. He hadn't asked how Sirius and Remus would be coming, but he assumed it would be by floo powder and he sat down with his homework by the fireplace.  
  
Harry had gotten all the way through his charms reading (without remembering a thing he had read) when there was a knock at the front door. Arabella burst out of the kitchen. Last time Harry had seen her she had been covered in food, but to his surprise she was clean now, and Harry could see that the Kitchen table was sagging under the weight of a mound full of food platters.  
  
"Aren't you going to let them in?" Arabella asked.  
  
Harry jumped up and ran to the door, flinging it open. There was Sirius and Remus looking awkward in muggle clothes. They were both grinning at Harry, and Harry grinned back stepping aside to let them in.  
  
After many "Hellos" and "How are yous" Arabella ushered everyone into the dining room and started bringing out food. She had not been kidding when she said she had cooked enough for twelve. The food kept piling up, and Arabella made frequent trips into the kitchen taking back platters and bringing out more.  
  
Conversation was general during dinner. Sirius and Remus told Harry that they had been traveling a lot, contacting people for Dumbledore, but would not be more specific. Harry did notice they were both thin, and kept pushing them to eat more. Remus caught on to this right away.  
  
"Harry," He said, trying to be stern, "I know you are concerned about Sirius and I, but I am starting to wonder if you are trying to fatten us up for the kill."  
  
Sirius stopped eating in mid bite, and looked at Lupin.  
  
"Fatten us up?" he asked curiously.  
  
"I can't believe you haven't noticed Sirius, but Harry has been loading your plate with food every time you turn away."  
  
Sirius looked down at his plate, over to Lupin, back at his plate, and then to Harry. He smiled and pulled his godson closer to him in a half-hug.  
  
"Harry!" he said in mock pain, "are you planning to use us in the next batch of chili?"  
  
"yes sir" Harry said trying to keep a straight face but failing  
  
"Ha!" said Arabella walking in from the kitchen again, "you will ALL be chili if you don't save room for dessert!"  
  
Remus and Sirius perked up.  
  
"You made your specialty didn't you!" Remus said eagerly. "Arabella used to make dessert for the entire school at the end of the year banquet. People would not eat for days in anticipation." Sirius explained to Harry.  
  
"What kind of dessert is it?" Harry asked excitedly.  
  
Lupin was about to answer when there was another knock at the door.  
  
Harry looked uncertainly at Arabella, who was looking uncertainly at the door.  
  
"Should I answer it?" Harry asked.  
  
Arabella nodded and followed Harry towards the door. A dark figure stood in the doorway. For a split second Harry had the urge to slam the door and run, but he froze when he recognized who it was.  
  
Snape.  
  
Harry was shocked. He watched, rooted to the spot, as Snape looked at him and took a step forward. Suddenly Snape lunged at him, Harry flinched unable to move in time.  
  
Arabella stepped in front of him and caught Snape before his head hit the floor. He hadn't lunged, he had fallen.  
  
"Help me Remus, Sirius! Harry, close the door, mum, get my bag!"  
  
Arabella tried to drag Snape in, but he was too heavy for her. Remus hesitated a second, but then got up to help Arabella get him on the couch. Harry shut the door quickly and followed them. Mrs. Figg was handing Arabella a wet cloth and a glass of water, Sirius had remained in his seat. He was watching over them all with an unattractive sneer, his arms folded in front of him.  
  
Arabella searched for any sign of injury on Snape, but didn't find anything. She wiped off his face and tried to speak to him.  
  
"Severus, its Arabella, can you hear me?"  
  
Snape mumbled something but did not open his eyes. Arabella seemed content with this. she stood up and put a blanket over him.  
  
"He's fine," she said putting a hand on Harry shoulder. "He's just over tired, why don't we go have dessert."  
  
"Yes, let's not let that slime ball ruin dinner."  
  
Sirius had come over to the couch and was now looking down at Snape with extreme dislike. Arabella narrowed her eyes. When she spoke it was in a silky growl.  
  
"Mr. Black, if you say one more word along that line you will be sleeping outside tonight."  
  
Sirius glared at her.  
  
"I never understood what you saw in him." Arabella didn't move, so he continued, "He's nothing but a horrible slime ball. He never washes his hair, and he is never nice to anyone. He is cruel to Harry!"  
  
Harry was about to say something, he wasn't sure what, when Arabella exploded. Harry hadn't heard anyone yell that loud since Ron's last howler. Mrs. Figg and Remus both retreated a few steps, but Sirius kept his ground.  
  
"DAMN YOU BLACK! IF YOU SAY THAT AGAIN YOU WILL REGRET IT! I DID NOT INVITE YOU HERE TO BE SUCH A BLOODY GIT! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO END UP BACK IN AZKABAN I SUGGEST YOU HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"  
  
A deathly silence fell over the room. It seemed to Harry that everyone had stopped breathing. Sirius had gone pale.  
  
"I promise you I'll do it." Arabella said in almost a whisper. Harry noticed she was about as pale as Sirius.  
  
Sirius and Arabella stood looking at each other, neither one was moving, or even blinking when a weak voice came up from the couch.  
  
"I hope this is not all for my sake."  
  
Snape had his eyes half opened. His face was unreadable to Harry, it seemed like a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Arabella looked at Snape, and back up at Sirius who had a haunted look in his eyes. Harry went to him and gave him a protective hug. Sirius looked surprised but hugged Harry back fiercely.  
  
"I'm sorry Harry" Arabella said, and after a short hesitation "and I apologize Sirius, it was inappropriate of me to say that. Will you forgive me?"  
  
Sirius looked at her in a way that suggested he was not planning to forgive her anytime soon, but before he could say anything Lupin stepped between them.  
  
"Of course he does Bella dear, we all know your. er. temper. Why don't we all go have some pie now?"  
  
"Pie!" said Harry catching on to what Lupin was trying to do, "what kind of pie?"  
  
"A special kind of pumpkin pie harry." Mrs. Figg said while pushing him lightly towards the dining room. "A recipe from my great grandmother. Very famous really, but don't ask what's in it we will never tell!"  
  
Everyone went back into the dining room, the only trouble was when Snape followed. Arabella opened her mouth but didn't say anything, Lupin fidgeted in his chair looking uncomfortable, and Sirius gave Snape a look that could only be described as pure hatred. Mrs. Figg ignored them all and got an extra chair for Snape.  
  
"Sit down please professor Snape"  
  
"Thank you" Snape said. Harry noticed how hollow his voice seemed.  
  
The rest of dinner consisted of Harry, Lupin and Mrs. Figg trying to keep a conversation going. Arabella hardly ate any pie and kept her eyes on her plate. Sirius and Snape both ate a lot, but spent the entire time looking distastefully at one another. Finally everyone had finished. Harry couldn't remember the last time he had been so relieved.  
  
Arabella showed Remus and Sirius upstairs to their room so they could change back into muggle clothes. Harry mumbled some excuse and followed after them. He hid and watched Arabella stop Sirius before he went into the room. They exchanged a few words, but Harry couldn't hear what they were saying. Arabella looked down at the floor, while Sirius looked at her with a blank face. For a second Harry thought his godfather would cry, but instead he smiled a very small smile and grabbed Arabella's hand. She looked up at him, smiled, and squeezed his hand back before Sirius disappeared into the room. Harry bolted back downstairs before Arabella could see him.  
  
Snape was in the kitchen helping Mrs. Figg clean up the last plates left from dessert. He shot a suspicious glance at Harry when he came in, but said nothing. Arabella was right on his heals.  
  
"Mum!" she exclaimed. "What do you think you are doing! Severus needs to rest."  
  
"AND he needs to tell us why he is here dear, I know calm down."  
  
Mrs. Figg finished the last dishes, and they moved into the living room once again. everyone sat down, except Snape.  
  
"I'm surprised you haven't heard yet Arabella, but Voldemort made his first attack today."  
  
Both Harry and Mrs. Figg spoke at the same time, but with a look from Arabella they fell quiet.  
  
"Where Snape?" She asked, the apprehension she felt poorly hidden.  
  
"Right in the middle of London. A bunch of muggles saw it all, the ministry has been working hard to undo the damage. So far Fudge has been quiet on the subject, but he won't be able to remain so for long. There are many people up in arms against him, they are wondering why he didn't know Voldemort was still alive."  
  
"And Dumbledore?" Arabella asked quietly.  
  
"I have not spoken with the headmaster yet." Snape replied, and Harry had the distinct impression that Snape wanted to say more.  
  
"What did Voldemort do?" He asked, and flinched as Snape's cold eyes turned on him.  
  
Snape held Harry's gaze for a second before saying very slowly "He killed a mother and her three children while they were on the way to Diagon Alley."  
  
Harry knew there was something Snape was not saying.  
  
"Why? Where they enemies of Voldemort?" He asked boldly.  
  
"Voldemort does not need a reason to kill. They could have been enemies, or not, either way the purpose of today's attack was to announce his return."  
  
Harry knew that this was probably true, but he could not shake the feeling that Snape was hiding something.  
  
"Who where they?"  
  
The question came out before Harry even thought to ask it. As he watched Snape he knew his instinct had been right. Snape's eyes dropped quickly to the floor, and a violent emotion passed over his face which Harry could not see. When Snape lifted his head to look at Harry again the normal look of disgust was in place.  
  
"I don't know. It is rather inconsequential Potter, perhaps we can move on to more important matters."  
  
As Arabella asked more questions about Fudge, Harry left his mind wander. He knew Snape had lied to him. Snape knew who the victims of Voldemort's attack had been, but why was he lying about it? 


	5. Revelations

That night after everyone else had fallen asleep Harry lay in bed.  
  
Arabella had decided that nothing could be done about Voldemort now, and insisted that they all go to bed. Snape was the first to go. Harry didn't realize how tired his potions master was until Remus had to help him up the stairs and into bed. Sirius put up a bit of a fight. After he heard about Voldemort's attack he raged that they couldn't sit and do nothing, and insisted that if the Ministry of Magic could not find Voldemort that they go after him themselves. Arabella shot that idea down as soon as he spoke it, and Sirius, seeing the dangerous glint in her eye, backed down.  
  
So they all called it a night. But long after the others drifted off to dream Harry lay awake in bed. Thoughts swirled around in his head aimlessly. There were so many questions he had not asked, and so many that he had, but had never been answered. Harry looked to the clock on the dresser beside the bed. One o'clock. Knowing he couldn't sleep Harry got up quietly and headed downstairs for a midnight snack. He tip-toed across the living room, into the kitchen and turned the light on.  
  
"What do you think you are doing Harry?"  
  
Harry spun around. Mrs. Figg was standing in the doorway in her nightgown, with a night cap on her head. She was looking at him with an expression of curiosity and amusement. At least she didn't look mad Harry thought.  
  
"I'm sorry if I scared you Mrs. Figg, but I couldn't sleep so I though I would come down and get something to eat."  
  
She smiled at him "Didn't eat enough today already?"  
  
"Well," Harry admitted bashfully "Yes, I'm actually not that hungry. Just restless."  
  
"Very understandable. How about I'll make some tea and we can talk."  
  
Harry agreed, and sat down at the table. It relieved him to have someone to talk to, and Mrs. Figg, although rotten at chess, seemed very good at calming people down.  
  
"Mrs. Figg," he asked "What happened today, why did Arabella get so angry?"  
  
Mrs. Figg chuckled as she set the kettle on the stove.  
  
"Arabella has a horrible temper. If you provoke her you had better watch out because, as you saw today, she will not go easy on you." Mrs. Figg set two mugs on the table. "I think she had a difficult time with your godfather and Remus when they delivered Dumbledore's note, and-"  
  
"What note?" Harry interrupted.  
  
Mrs. Figg raised her eyebrows "They really didn't tell you anything did they dear. I suppose I should start from the beginning."  
  
Harry waited eagerly as he watched her put tea bags in the mugs and fill them with water. She sat down and took a deep breath.  
  
"Harry, I have been living in Privet drive all these years to watch over you. There are many measures Dumbledore took to ensure your safety, one of them was me. For the last 11 years I didn't have any contact with the magical world. In fact, I gave up using any magic in order to gain the trust of my neighbors-- including your Aunt and Uncle-- and to hide. If Voldemort's supporters knew I was here, or if Voldemort himself knew I was. My cats were the only connection to the outside I had. Long ago, when I was young I learned how to speak with cats, and that's why I have so many. Although many wizards and witches have cats, so do many eccentric old ladies. And very few people can convince a cat to do what they want it to do, so they are not used for communication, like owls are."  
  
"Which is what you use them for?" Harry asked.  
  
Mrs. Figg smiled. "Yes, Harry, that is exactly right. I send my cats with messages to Dumbledore anytime something important happens, but I can not do it too often, and I almost never get replies back. After you started at Hogwarts Dumbledore would send me a letter after each school year ended catching me up on everything that had happened."  
  
"So you know about-" Harry stopped, not sure what to mention first.  
  
"Everything." Mrs. Figg smirked, "Well, everything that Dumbledore is aware of anyway."  
  
Harry couldn't help smiling as Mrs. Figg looked at him expectantly.  
  
"That's all there is to know!" he said as innocently as possible.  
  
Mrs. Figg looked at Harry knowingly and continued. "At the end of the school year, when Dumbledore knew Voldemort had returned he took certain actions to try and prevent Voldemort from regaining the power he had before. One thing he did was to contact his own supporters. You may not know this, but Dumbledore has quite the fan club."  
  
Harry laughed "I believe it." He agreed emphatically  
  
"Sirius and Remus spent the beginning of the summer collecting Dumbledore's fan club, and included in them was my daughter."  
  
Harry thought about this for a while as they both sat and sipped their tea in an agreeable silence. Another question popped into Harry's head.  
  
"If this place is secret how did Snape know where to go?"  
  
Harry tried to make the question sound casual, but some of the doubts he had of Snape slipped into his voice.  
  
"Professor Snape," Harry was surprised to hear Mrs. Figg call him professor, "has been here before."  
  
She said it in a way that Harry did not consider asking when that was, although he desperately wanted to. Maybe he might try a different line of questioning.  
  
"Do you trust Snape"  
  
Mrs. Figg considered the question.  
  
"Harry," she said evenly "I don't know much about Professor Snape, I don't think I am supposed to know much. However, Dumbledore trusts him and I trust Dumbledore. What about you, do you trust him Harry?"  
  
Harry started when she asked him the question. He looked at her, was she really asking his opinion? Did he have a answer? Harry thought about it a while and Mrs. Figg did not push him for an answer.  
  
"I'm not sure." Harry admitted truthfully. "I know Dumbledore trusts him, but I know he was not telling us everything he knew tonight, and I think he even lied."  
  
Harry didn't know what to say next. Mrs. Figg considered him for a moment.  
  
"Harry, I think that Professor Snape would like nothing better than to tell you the truth."  
  
Harry didn't answer. He was rather skeptical that Mrs. Figg could read Snape's mind. Another question was lurking in the back of Harry's mind and a sense of foreboding came over him as he realized the horrid implications.  
  
"Mrs. Figg, if you stopped using magic all these years to hide from Voldemort, why did you start using them all now, after he's come back?"  
  
Mrs. Figg's face fell. The cheerful sparkle in her eyes was replaced by a dull, haunted look.  
  
"He knows Harry." It was barely a whisper. "I suppose he has always known Dumbledore had set up protections, and he may not know who, but that would never stop him from hunting me down. We have made a small amount of ruckus on purpose to protect the muggles who live close by."  
  
She choked, unable to finish, but Harry understood. Voldemort would find Mrs. Figg if he had to kill every muggle in the town. He felt queasy just thinking about all the people who's lives he was putting in danger just by being here, and in that moment Harry decided something. He was going to stop Voldemort. 


	6. Birthday

The next few weeks passed without incident. Harry spent his time with Sirius and Remus listening stories from when they were in school. The amount of pranks that they had pulled would have shamed the Weasley twins. Snape had simply disappeared one night. Arabella assured them that he was fine, and Harry had to admit he was rather relieved when Snape left.  
  
One night Harry was playing another game of chess with Mrs. Figg when Arabella came and sat down by them. She was smiling so broadly Harry thought it must hurt.  
  
"Harry, we have a special surprise for you."  
  
Harry looked up from the game. Remus and Sirius were standing with big grins on their faces as well.  
  
"What do you have planned?" He asked suspiciously.  
  
"Harry, tomorrow is your birthday,"  
  
It startled Harry to hear Arabella say that, he was not used to having people remember.  
  
"and we are going to take you, Ron and Hermione on a little trip tomorrow, so we are celebrating here tonight. Happy birthday Harry."  
  
As she said it Sirius and Remus grabbed Harry and led him into the dining room. It was decorated rather ineffectually with streamers and balloons. There was also a banner on one of the walls that was flashing 'Happy Birthday Harry' a big pile of presents on the table along with a huge chocolate cake.  
  
"Well?" his godfather said, "which first, gifts or cake?"  
  
Harry couldn't speak. He answered by turning around and giving his godfather a fierce hug. This was the most wonderful birthday he had ever had.  
  
Harry's curiosity got the better of him, and he started unwrapping the presents. This was more fun than Harry had ever had. Everyone was chatting and laughing while Mrs. Figg kept taking pictures of Harry at awkward moments. When he protested about this Arabella grinned and told him to keep unwrapping. The amount of gifts was amazing to Harry, he got a mound full of candy and treats, a new quill, a set of checkers from Mrs. Figg, and a new bottle of broomstick polish, among other things. Finally there were only two packages left. Harry reached for the bigger of the two, there was no card so he ripped through the paper.  
  
It was a copy of Quidditch through the ages.  
  
"Thanks." Harry said. "Who is it from?"  
  
"It's from all of us Harry." Sirius said eagerly "but it's not just the book, open up the cover."  
  
Harry opened the cover. A small envelope and a note fell out. Harry picked up the note first.  
  
Happy Birthday Harry, This should make your day tomorrow a little bit better. Love from, Sirius, Remus, Arabella and Mrs. Figg  
  
Harry opened the envelope excitedly. Inside were four tickets to the English national quidditch team practice tomorrow.  
  
"Thanks!" Harry said with much more enthusiasm this time.  
  
"Ron, Hermione and Arabella will be going with you tomorrow." Sirius explained. "We were really lucky to get permission to go, they usually don't allow people to watch them practice, but Arabella has got some connections, and they decided to make an exception."  
  
Harry looked sadly at his godfather.  
  
"I wish you could come with"  
  
"I know" Sirius whispered. "I do too, next time."  
  
Remus came over and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Open your last package Harry."  
  
The last gift was the same shape as the previous one, but a little bit smaller. Harry was not surprised as he tore away the paper to find another book.  
  
It was an old book of poems. Harry opened it up, there were notes written in the margins, passages that were highlighted and words that were underlined. Remus had come to stand by Harry, who looked up at him questioningly.  
  
"I forgot I had this until I found it while looking for a book this summer. It was your mother's"  
  
Harry flipped through the book. That was his mother's writing, her notes, it was the closest he could come to knowing her thoughts.  
  
"She loved poetry, she never went anywhere without that book. She was constantly reading out of it, I think you will probably find some of her own poetry written in there."  
  
This was the first thing Harry had of his mother's. Although he had never read poetry before he could not wait to read all the notes his mother had written. Lupin looked down at him and smiled. Harry didn't know what to say.  
  
"How about some cake now?" It seemed like an inadequate thanks but Harry knew Lupin understood what this meant to him.  
  
Arabella tore her eyes away from the book, which she had been staring at.  
  
"Cake it is!"  
  
***  
  
The dark figure eased into the room. If they were not expecting him they would have never noticed him enter. With poorly hidden nervousness a short man with a pointy noise and a bald spot on the back of his head stepped forward. The dark figure might have let out a quick gasp, but the small man didn't seem to notice.  
  
"We've been waiting for you." He said in a squeaky voice. "You were supposed to have been here an hour ago. The Dark Lord does not like to be kept waiting."  
  
The dark figure did not move.  
  
"Well, what do you had to report" The man with the squeaky voice was trying very hard to be cross, but it would have been more convincing if had not been shaking.  
  
"I do not report to you Peter Petigrew." The dark figure said in a low rumble.  
  
Peter jumped at the use of his full name, he had been avoiding using it since most people thought he was dead.  
  
"Well" he said desperately trying to act more confident than he felt. "Our master trusts me, he is occupied at the moment-"  
  
"Yes, yes, I'm sure he is." The dark figure laughed cruelly. "But you tell your master if he thinks I will speak to anyone but him he will be very disappointed. I would be very offended to hear that he values hunting down muggles more than my-- service."  
  
Peter was shaking very hard now, the dark figure had not moved, but his mere presence was menacing.  
  
"You tell your master that next time he requests to meet that he have the courtesy to show up. Next time I will not be so understanding."  
  
With that the dark figure swept out of the room. Walking quickly down the street he looked over his shoulder. No one had followed him. Just in case he took a turn down a deserted alleyway and jumped lightly onto a roof. He watched as Peter and the rest of the death eaters filed into the street looking around, and then disapperated.  
  
***  
  
The next morning Harry got up early. He was restless. It wasn't until he had paced his room for a quarter hour before he remembered his mom's book. sitting down on his bed he opened to a page somewhere close to the middle.  
  
The love of my beloved is upon yonder side  
  
A stretch of water is between  
  
And a crocodile waits upon the sandbank  
  
The notes on this one were scarce, the whole poem was circled but only one word was written Tonight.  
  
Harry didn't have much time to ponder this when there was a knock at his door. It was Mrs. Figg.  
  
"I thought you might be up, too excited to sleep?"  
  
"Yes," Harry admitted "I can't wait to go."  
  
"Well come downstairs dear, Arabella has made breakfast."  
  
Harry followed her downstairs. The smell of bacon wafted in the air and cheerful chattering was coming from the kitchen. Apparently Harry was not the only one who had gotten up early. Sirius and Arabella were sitting at the table talking animatedly. Harry was glad they had made up.  
  
When Arabella saw Harry she jumped up  
  
"The bacon!" she jumped up and ran over to the stove. "Who likes their bacon a bit crispy?" she asked sheepishly.  
  
Sirius laughed "don't worry, if anyone has a problem they can blame me! I shouldn't have gotten you started on chaser tactics."  
  
Arabella served up the slightly burnt bacon and toast.  
  
"Well, if I burnt the bacon I will make it up with the drinks!" She went to the fridge and pulled out some oranges. Then she grabbed something plastic out of the cupboard, set it over a pitcher and cut an orange in half.  
  
"Homemade orange juice!" She said cheerfully. "One of my American friends sent me a crate of oranges as a thank you, and there is nothing better than home squeezed orange juice in the morning."  
  
Harry enjoyed the juice. Aunt Petunia had never squeezed orange juice, and watching Arabella he understood why. By the time she had made a glass for everyone she was sticky and there was pulp all over the counter and floor. It didn't seem to bother her though, she was laughing at her own antics.  
  
"You can tell I don't do this very often, I'm not very graceful."  
  
Everyone was assuring her when Lupin walked in the kitchen. His hair was ruffled and he still looked half asleep.  
  
"Why didn't anyone wake me up? I obviously missed all the fun." His eyes went from the floor, to each of their smiling faces.  
  
"Oh Remus, we wouldn't want you to lose any beauty sleep, you need it." Arabella said, with a mischievous smile.  
  
He was looking at Arabella with mock hurt when a ball of orange pulp hit him full in the force in the face. At the look on Lupin's face Harry nearly fell out of his chair laughing. Lupin recovered though, grabbed more pulp and pushed it into Arabella's face.  
  
"Truce!" she choked out through laughter and orange pulp.  
  
Harry had never seen them all so happy. It made him laugh and cry at the same time that these people had suffered so much, and they were facing more head on. Their families and friends had been taken away from them, things you normally base your life on had been stolen and yet here they were laughing. As much as it saddened Harry it also amazed him. It amazed him that after so much pain they could still laugh, still smile, still get up every morning and keep going. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he thought this. He wiped it away quickly, before anyone could see. If they thought he was sad they would stop their fun. For some reason they all seemed to love him very much, even Arabella and Mrs. Figg, who he didn't know very well. Their love was evident in the sacrifices they had made for him, made them without him even knowing. Harry couldn't help but to be excited for the day, but there was a nagging in the back of his mind. It wasn't right. Something wasn't right. 


	7. Surprise

They used floo powder to get to the Burrow, Hermione had arrived before them. Arabella went to say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before they headed over to the stadium, leaving Harry Ron and Hermione alone.  
  
"Can you believe it Harry! Can you really believe it! We're going to get to meet the entire English side. It's brilliant! My dad couldn't even get tickets, how do you suppose Arabella got them?" Ron said this all very fast, obviously bursting with excitement.  
  
"Happy birthday Harry," said Hermione with an amused grin on her face.  
  
Ron stopped gushing abruptly. "Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, sorry Harry."  
  
Harry laughed, he had missed his friends.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore was in his office sitting very still. It was fifteen minutes past the time of the appointment, and worry was stretched over every line of his ancient face. Finally the door to his office opened and Severus walked in. He seemed to be in a hurry, and did not even bother to apologize for being late.  
  
"It's all going to plan headmaster. There was a small problem, but I was able to smooth it over. It is exactly as we have discussed."  
  
"Very well then." But Dumbledore knew there was more, he would never have come here just to tell him that. "What else is there Severus?"  
  
"There's going to be another attack." Snape said it with no emotion in his voice. Dumbledore could see his eyes go dead. "It will be at the quidditch stadium today, and it will be on Harry." He paused raising his head to look directly into the headmaster's eyes. "Voldemort is counting on me to do it."  
  
***  
  
As there was some time before the practice started Arabella took Harry, Ron and Hermione to Diagon Alley for lunch. Arabella watched them contently as they talked about what they had done this summer, and how excited they were for the practice. Harry and Ron laughed when Hermione tried to join in the quidditch conversation, she constantly boggled up terms and asked stupid questions. How could the girl be so smart at school, and yet so ignorant about quidditch?  
  
It wasn't till they got up from lunch that Arabella noticed a man wrapped in robes with a hood covering his face sitting in a dark corner booth by himself. Her heart froze. She sent the kids off for an ice cream cone before she slunk over to the booth in the corner.  
  
"Sirius, I know that's you, what the HELL are you doing here?"  
  
Sirius lifted his head slightly so that she could see his face.  
  
"Do you think I'd let my godson walk around unprotected." An unconvincing smile on his face.  
  
"But Sirius, I'm with him and unless." Her breath caught as she realized "you know something."  
  
Sirius lowered his head again and whispered very fast, and very quietly "I shouldn't even warn you, but I want you to know, to be prepared for trouble. Please."  
  
He didn't have to finish the sentence, she knew he was worried.  
  
"Why don't we stay home then, I'll tell the kids. something. we'll all go home and."  
  
Sirius shook his head.  
  
"You have to go."  
  
There was desperate finality in his tone. Arabella didn't need him to explain why, if they didn't go today Voldemort would know that Dumbledore had a spy. She also knew it was killing Sirius to let his godson walk straight into danger. She felt horror creep into her face as she realized what might happen. Sirius grabbed her hand in a mixture of reassurance and desperation.  
  
"Bella dear, there's nothing you can do besides stay by Harry. Dumbledore has a plan, I'll be there, but I can't be by Harry's side, please, you've got to promise me you won't leave him."  
  
Arabella got herself under control.  
  
"Sirius, I will not leave his side for an instant."  
  
***  
  
Harry had never been so excited. The stadium loomed high into the sky as they approached it and the light breeze carried the familiar scent of freshly cut grass. A perfect summer day for quidditch, mildly warm and sunny, only a few fluffy white clouds rolling lazily through the sky.  
  
He and Ron had on matching grins they could not get rid of, even Hermione looked excited. When they arrived at the entrance to the stadium they were met by a very tall, very large wizard. He smiled at Arabella.  
  
"Haven't seen you in a while."  
  
"I've been busy." She answered returning his smile "but I missed you horribly Frank."  
  
"Who have you got with you?" he asked looking at the threesome. His eyes stopped on Harry and his eyebrows rose a bit. "Crickey! You're Harry Potter."  
  
Arabella stepped in to save Harry.  
  
"This is Harry, Ron and Hermione. They are here to celebrate Harry's birthday. Guys, this is Frank."  
  
She handed Frank the tickets, which stirred him out of his trance.  
  
"Right," he grinned, "well, I hope you guys are ready, it should be quite a treat!"  
  
They walked out onto the pitch, Harry was in heaven. A few of the players were zooming above warming up before practice while the others grouped together in the middle of the field talking. One spotted their group and came running out to meet them. She was a very petit woman, with golden blond hair and amazingly green eyes.  
  
"Bella dear! How are you" She gave Arabella a big hug before turning to Harry. "You must be Harry, happy birthday."  
  
"Thanks." Harry mumbled blushing slightly under her gaze.  
  
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is Penelope, my cousin."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." said Hermione trying to make up for Harry and Ron who were both starring at Penelope with glazed over eyes.  
  
"Well, you are in for a treat today! We've got a lovely practiced planned, working on perfecting some of our new moves. Really, you should be some of the first to see them! Looks like we're starting, enjoy you all!"  
  
At that moment a cloud covered up the sun, and Harry gave an involuntary shiver.  
  
"You didn't tell me your cousin was the seeker!" Ron spat out as soon as he had picked up his jaw from the ground.  
  
Arabella just laughed at him and shuffled them to the visitors seats. Harry's bad feeling past as he watched the team take flight. They whizzed around the field at half speeds first, going over drills in slow motion, and then speeding them up.  
  
"They put together a strong side this year" Ron said obviously as entranced as Harry was. "The keeper, Carlyle is probably the best in the world! And of course Penelope is a first rate seeker."  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron blushed again.  
  
Harry made mental notes during the practice. He couldn't wait to try some of the moves with the Gryffindor team. Ron wasn't kidding about Carlyle, he was great. At one point the captain of the team, Wordsworth, had to tell him to let up so that the chasers had a chance. Penelope was great too. Harry didn't realize how great a flier she was until she went into a dive straight down, only too pull out at the last minute. The whole team as well as the small group of visitors were all covering their eyes or clutching their hearts in fear, but Penelope just laughed and waved the snitch at them.  
  
All too soon the team was landing, tired after a long practice. Penelope motioned for them to come over and meet everyone. As they started walking over Harry noticed Arabella seemed tense. Her eyes were wandering all over and her hand was in her robes, presumably on her wand. Harry didn't say anything to her, but he also became more alert. Ron looked like he was in heaven. Penelope introduced him to the beaters (Wordsworth and Blake) the three chasers (Byron, Moore and Browning) and then to Carlyle. When he good willingly shook Ron's hand Ron forgot to let go and Hermione had to nudge him before Ron realized what he was doing.  
  
They talked for a while with the team. Harry got some great tips from them when Penelope suggested that he try one of the moves. He agreed gladly and took the broom Wordsworth gave him. Not wanting him to be left out Carlyle let Ron take his broom, but Hermione politely declined the use of the one Browning offered her. Soon Penelope, Harry and Ron were all up in the air. It felt so good to fly again.  
  
Penelope had barely started showing him the move when Harry's scar started to burn. Blinding pain shot through his head, and he headed towards where he thought the ground should be. He heard Ron calling to him, but it sounded like he was far away. Through some miracle Harry got to the ground. Arabella was at his side in an instant, Ron, Hermione and Penelope were right behind her.  
  
All of a sudden the pain stopped, and a chilly silence hung in the air. Harry looked up, but he knew what he would see even before he did. Lord Voldemort. 


	8. Forgivable Unforgivable

Voldemort stood on the field. A group of hooded death eaters had stunned the rest of the team, and where pointing their wands at Arabella, who stood in front of Harry defensively. But this wasn't her fight, Harry slowly got to his feet and went to stand beside her. He felt his friends presence behind them. Desperate thoughts came into his head. He could not be responsible for their deaths, this was his fight, too many people had died because of him already, too many people have had their lives ruined. Harry would not let that happen today.  
  
"Harry, we meet again" Voldemort's voice was like ice. "But don't worry, today is just a. test."  
  
Harry felt his spine tingle at his words, Voldemort was teasing him.  
  
"Just remember, you are not safe Potter, anywhere. Happy birthday"  
  
Harry opened his mouth, but before the words came out Voldemort had disappeared. The death eaters had not however. Hardly did Harry feel Arabella grasp his shoulder when the death eaters stunned her, Ron Hermione and Penelope. Harry was alone now. He stood their defiantly, unwilling to let them see his fear.  
  
"So he left you to do the dirty work. Couldn't handle to kill me himself."  
  
One of the death eaters stepped forward laughing coldly.  
  
"Don't you understand silly boy, he doesn't want to kill, not today anyway."  
  
For a fleeting moment Harry thought he recognized the voice, but the thought was driven out of his head when the death eater lifted his wand to cast a curse. Harry was ready to dodge when his mind was suddenly, blissfully wiped of all thought.  
  
Harry, pretend you are in pain, please  
  
A voice yelled in his empty mind. Sirius's voice.  
  
No, why should I Another voice answered back.  
  
Do it Harry, fall down, pretend you are in pain, please  
  
I don't see why I should  
  
But Harry recognized the voice, he should do what Sirius told him to do.  
  
PLEASE HARRY NOW  
  
Harry did it. He fell on the ground and started shaking. After an indeterminable amount of time he heard another voice.  
  
"Harry! Harry, stop!" It was Arabella shaking him. He opened his eyes slowly, thoughts rushed back into his head.  
  
"What happened! Where are they!" Harry sat up quickly and looked around. There was no sign of a death eater anywhere.  
  
Ron and Hermione looked pale.  
  
"They just wanted to hurt you." Hermione spoke in a very small voice. "They just came to torture you."  
  
"But they didn't torture me at all." Harry said confused  
  
"The cruciatous curse." Penelope said gasping.  
  
"I didn't feel that. I didn't feel that at all, Sir--" He stopped looking at Penelope "er- someone put me under the imperious curse and told me to act like I was in pain."  
  
Everyone looked at him concerned. Except for Penelope everyone knew he had meant to say Sirius. After an empty moment Arabella helped Harry to his feet.  
  
"Come on guys, I think that is enough for one day. Let's go home."  
  
Penelope walked them out of the stadium. She said goodbye to them pleasantly, but gave her cousin a sharp look before heading back to the looker room.  
  
"Sirius put the Imperious curse on you Harry?" Ron asked as soon as Penelope was out of earshot, and eyesight.  
  
"Yeah, it was his voice in my head, I don't understand. Do you Arabella?"  
  
Arabella jumped when Harry addressed her.  
  
"No Harry." She said grimly "not really anyway. I suspect we will get some answers when we get home."  
  
Harry wasn't so sure, but when he saw her face he thought they might stand a chance. Arabella's jaw was clenched as well as her fists. Her eyes were steely as she marched forward at a very fast pace. Harry recognized all the signs of a coming outburst. Whoever they met first better have earplugs with them.  
  
***  
  
To Harry's surprise Arabella managed to control her temper. But only barely. Remus was alone at the house when they all showed up. He looked braced for a fight, but before Arabella could start yelling he got out that they had been informed of today's attack by a spy, and that they had to let it happen or Voldemort would have known who the spy was.  
  
This didn't seem to impress Arabella, and she was about ready to explode, when Sirius came in the door. She took one look at him and any anger she had died. When he walked through the door he stopped abruptly on the threshold, as if he was not quiet sure where to go or what to do. His face was blank all the way down to his glossed over eyes. Harry went to him quickly and walked him over to the couch. Sirius gave a lost look to Harry and then pulled him into a tight hug sobbing violently.  
  
"Sirius, I'm okay." He said lamely.  
  
"You could have been hurt," Sirius cried into his shoulder. "I should have never let Voldemort that close to you, no matter what. Oh god Harry, he could have killed you, he could have killed you and I wouldn't have been able to save you."  
  
Harry looked desperately at Remus, who was looking just as desperately at Harry. Mrs. Figg walked into the room at that moment. She took one look at the situation, marched over to Sirius and pulled him to his feet roughly.  
  
SMACK  
  
Sirius stopped crying and looked wide eyed at Mrs. Figg, his hand covering the red print on his cheek. She had slapped him. Hard.  
  
"Young man, I expect better of you." She said her voice was stern, but not cruel. "We all have a long night ahead of us tonight. Dumbledore is counting on you, we are all counting on you. If you think you made a mistake, fine, but learn from it and move on. Pull yourself together, I can not tolerate your failure, I need your help."  
  
Sirius was now looking at Mrs. Figg with absolute amazement. Standing up straight, he smiled kindly at her.  
  
"My dear, you are the most amazing woman" and smiling ever broader "besides being absolutely right."  
  
Mrs. Figg waved him off. "enough, it's time we had a council of war."  
  
She led a stunned Ron and Hermione into chairs and kissed her daughter on the cheek.  
  
"What is it Remus?"  
  
Lupin had been staring at Mrs. Figg as well. All of a sudden he strode over to her and shook her hand enthusiastically.  
  
"If you knew how many times I have wanted to do that! Padfoot old mate, next time you need-"  
  
"Don't even think about it," Sirius growled "Mooney, if you ever hit me I promise I will hit you back."  
  
The tension broke and everyone settled in. Harry felt a new determination flowing from his friends. He knew from Mrs. Figg's speech that something bad was going to happened, and there was no doubt in his mind that tonight was going to be a long night, but whatever it was he knew that they could meet it head on.  
  
***  
  
"You did as I commanded." Said a voice like ice. Voldemort looked down on his death eater with obvious contempt. "You did not kill him?"  
  
"Of course master, you said not to kill the boy and I would never disobey you," said the dark haired death eater. But Voldemort did not seem convinced. He made a small motion and the dark haired man was frozen where he stood, looking into the tiny red eyes of Voldemort.  
  
"You obey me to gain my trust, but it would have been better gained had you killed him."  
  
"But- master- I would never."  
  
"Silence. I didn't trust you before, and I don't trust you now. The only reason I still let you live is because you are close to Dumbledore, and there may be a time when I can use you. But until then remember that I don't trust you."  
  
He waited for the death eater to nod.  
  
"You will not be told any useful information on the chance you have the desire to pass it on, and if we ever find that you have succumbed to that desire." Voldemort's voice dropped an octave as he stated evenly "I will kill you. And it will not be a quick death."  
  
He relished the last part and the death eater shivered as he saw the hungry glint in Voldemort's eye. Hunger to torture him.  
  
"I think," said Voldemort with malice in each word. "I think, that I should leave you with a small reminder of your loyalties."  
  
The death eater's blood turned to ice.  
  
"Wormtail!"  
  
A small balding man came into the room. The death eater's eyes might have flashed in anger as he set eyes on the man, a fact Voldemort surely did not miss.  
  
"Wormtail, I intend to give our guest a reminder of his visit. Will you do the honors?"  
  
Wormtail didn't speak but went over to the death eater, bent down, and with the hand Voldemort had made him crushed the foot into a jumble of bones.  
  
The death eater paled, but clenched his teeth.  
  
Voldemort did not appreciate this silence. "Cruio!" he yelled as Wormtail stepped back. The quiet didn't last longer than a minute. Voldemort delighted in the desperate screams of the death eater for a little while longer than necessary before lifting the curse.  
  
"Help him up Wormtail." He said with disgust as the death eater tried to stand up but failed. "Get him out of my sight."  
  
Wormtail helped the death eater limp away slowly. 


	9. Burning Down the House

"Voldemort is coming."  
  
The statement was simple enough. Just three words, but Harry's confidence plummeted instantly.  
  
"How can you be sure mom?"  
  
"The same way we found out about this afternoon," Sirius said softly. "We have to leave tonight."  
  
"But- then- won't whoever the spy is get in trouble?" Harry stammered.  
  
Everyone in the room looked nervous, except for Mrs. Figg. Her expression was as savage as Harry had ever seen; face set and eyes like steel she came over to Harry, Ron and Hermione.  
  
"This is what we are going to do. You three and Remus are going to hide in an undisclosed location Dumbledore has set up. Sirius and Arabella are going directly to Dumbledore." She paused briefly. "I am going to stay here with my cats."  
  
Now that Harry was reminded about the cats he noticed there were five sitting in the room. They had slunk in without anyone noticing, and were sitting quiet still with cat scowls on their faces.  
  
"But, when You-know-who-" Ron was interrupted by Mrs. Figg.  
  
"No, I don't know Ron, who?" Ron looked skeptically at Mrs. Figg, but felt she meant business.  
  
"Voldemort." He said, shivering at his own voice. "When Voldemort comes won't he kill you?"  
  
Harry could sense the confidence and even reassurance Ron had gotten from saying Voldemort's name.  
  
"He will not be able to find me." Mrs. Figg smirked "we are going to burn the house."  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Arabella all protested at once, but Mrs. Figg held her hand up to silence them.  
  
"If you will be quiet I will explain to you exactly what will happen."  
  
***  
  
Scorn sat quietly by the brown haired girl on the arm of the couch, listening to them argue. She had never seen a room so tense. Turning to Tipsy she said "can you believe them? Arguing at a time like this, if they don't get going they will never get everything moved in time."  
  
"Humans can not be reasoned with," the delicate gray cat stuck up her nose "even Mrs. Figg-"  
  
"There is nothing wrong with Mrs. Figg." Scorn cut her off angrily.  
  
A black and white spotted cat sauntered over to the other two.  
  
"Not fighting are we girls?"  
  
Scorn glared at him before replying in a dignified voice "Hello Trouble, we were just discussing the need for these people to act soon."  
  
"I wish Mrs. Figg would notice we are back, should we tell her? Have you seen Jasper or Mirth?"  
  
"Someone call?" A huge gray and white tiger stripped cat said from behind Trouble.  
  
"Hi Jasper, where is Mirth?"  
  
"Over on the armchair."  
  
All four cats turned to look. Sure enough a light colored Siamese cat was posed gracefully on the armchair. She spotted all the other cats staring at her and stared back. Trouble called her over.  
  
"Oh no," groaned Tipsy "don't!"  
  
But it was too late, Mirth had joined their group.  
  
"What's going on guys?"  
  
"We are discussing what to do about these people," said Jasper. "They are taking far too long talking. They should be leaving already"  
  
Scorn stood up suddenly. "Alright, I'm done discussing. Honestly, we are acting just as bad as they are. Trouble, let's go talk with Mrs. Figg."  
  
Trouble and Scorn slunk over beside Mrs. Figg who was watching the dark haired boy speak. They each took a side and nipped her ankles. Mrs. Figg let out an interjection and looked down at them.  
  
"You are back already?"  
  
"We have been back for a while, you just didn't notice," Trouble pointed out to her. "We just though we would remind you how little time you have."  
  
"Everyone needs to leave if we are going to start the fire before Voldemort comes." Scorn reprimanded.  
  
"Right you both are." Mrs. Figg said seriously with just the slightest twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "why don't you take Jasper, Mirth and Tipsy out at do one more search for rats and by the time you get back I will have everyone gone."  
  
The cats didn't answer, but walked back to the others. After a brief second all five got up and went into the kitchen going out through the back door, ignoring the strange looks the humans were giving them.  
  
"Now remember, if you find a rat Mrs. Figg needs it alive."  
  
"We know Scorn." sighed Jasper, "which side of the house do you want?"  
  
Scorn gave Jasper a nasty look and headed towards the right side.  
  
After about ten minutes Scorn, Trouble, Jasper and Tipsy were all back in the living room. To the cats pleasure the humans had gone, and Mrs. Figg had nearly completed stuffing useful items into her coat and handbag.  
  
"Well," she asked them. "did you find anything, where is Mirth?"  
  
"Probably lost." said Tipsy under her breath. Trouble shot her a look.  
  
"We didn't find anything. I'm sure Mirth will be back soon."  
  
Mrs. Figg turned to her cats "We can't wait much longer, Tipsy will you go and find her?"  
  
Tipsy looked at her with indignation. "I am NOT her babysitter. If you want her YOU go and find her."  
  
Mrs. Figg turned back to her handbag and rolled her eyes. "Jasper?"  
  
"Consider it done," he said bounding off with a satisfied look.  
  
In a second he was back with Mirth.  
  
"No reason to worry Tipsy, she wasn't lost, just grabbing a bite to eat!"  
  
Trouble took a flying leap up to the bookshelf, knocking over an ugly vase to the floor. The noise as it shattered served to cover whatever bad word Tipsy had just called Jasper as well as get everyone's attention. Mrs. Figg was glaring at Trouble.  
  
"You never liked that vase did you."  
  
"No, I've wanted to break it for years," Trouble said blandly. "Seems like this was my last chance."  
  
Mrs. Figg sighed and took one last look around. She was heading into the kitchen when the door burst open. It was too late, Voldemort had found her. He stood in her doorway, death eaters behind him.  
  
Scorn disappeared behind the couch as the evil man came in. She glanced at Trouble who was crouching very still on the bookshelf, and then to Tipsy, who was wrinkling her nose in disgust, and Jasper who had moved silently underneath the table by the front door. Mirth had taken a place just behind Mrs. Figg. They were all ready.  
  
"My dear Mrs. Figg," said the evil man glancing at her full handbag and stuffed overcoat. "You weren't think of leaving were you?"  
  
He smiled wickedly and started to move inside "Shame on you, no manners. I will just invite myself in."  
  
"Stop."  
  
Scorn moved slowly around the couch so as not to attract any attention, making eye contact with Tipsy and wrinkling her nose in agreement. This man smelt of evil, they had to get him out of here. The two cats moved like one, positioning themselves as close to the other smelly men as they could. As Scorn moved beside one of them she noticed that his right foot was mangled. He seemed a bit more tense than the rest, and perhaps not as evil smelling. Frightened though, horribly frightened. But she didn't have time to consider the man because something caught her eye, a rat.  
  
Trouble watched the evil man laugh at Mrs. Figg. He wished he could rip out his little red eyes.  
  
"Stop? And how exactly are you going to stop me you mudblood? You might have scared me a long time ago, but you are an old woman now, and you have lived too long in the muggle world."  
  
Trouble glanced at Mrs. Figg nervously. She was standing up straight with pure hatred in her eyes. Anger boiled inside him, if this man made even the slightest move to hurt Mrs. Figg heads would roll.  
  
"I decided a long time ago I would stop you from getting Harry, at all costs."  
  
"Your death will not save that boy." The evil man said cruelly. "Goodbye Mrs. Figg." He raised his wand and pointed it at her "Avada-"  
  
Chaos ensued. Trouble leaped from the bookshelf at the same time the evil man seemed knocked off balance by some invisible force.  
  
Scorn, Tipsy and Jasper ran desperately underfoot of the nasty smelling men chomping their ankles. It worked, soon they were in a jumble on the floor. Scorn noticed that the man with the crippled foot managed to fall into two of the other men and then tripped up a third rather cunningly, she only gave him a playful nip. Trouble did not have as much success. The evil man had Trouble by the neck in front of him. Trouble clawed and scratched at the arm that held him, but the evil man did not seem to feel it. Scorn noticed that Mirth was no where to be seen. It was up to her to save Trouble. She tried desperately to bite the evil man, but he didn't seem to notice she was attacking him with all that she had. Trouble fought to stay conscious, but the evil man was slowly cutting off his air. Soon all Trouble could see was black and tiny little red eyes.  
  
"Wand!" Scorn heard Mrs. Figg yell. Biting the hand of the crippled foot man she grabbed his wand and flew to Mrs. Figg who pointed it at the evil man and yelled "forcio aperacium!"  
  
The evil man disappeared. Trouble dropped to the ground in a heap and the evil smelling men eyed Mrs. Figg with horror before climbing to their feet and disappearing as well. The last man to make it up was the one with the crippled foot and Scorn might have noticed the slightest bow in Mrs. Figg's direction before he too disappeared.  
  
Mrs. Figg went over to Trouble, who besides being humiliated and angry, was fine. Jasper and Tipsy were both licking their mild wounds.  
  
"Who were those awful men? One of them stepped on my tail." Tipsy said indignantly.  
  
"They were rather stupid if you ask me." Jasper said airily. "We were heavily outnumbered and yet it was a solid victory. People always underestimate cats."  
  
Mrs. Figg started to laugh.  
  
"What's so funny?" asked Tipsy. You saw it, they were scared out of their wits."  
  
Tipsy's comment didn't pacify Mrs. Figg who was now rolling on the floor with laugher.  
  
Trouble, Jasper and Tipsy were looking at Mrs. Figg as if she was mad. Trouble approached her cautiously.  
  
"Are you certain you are alright? Sure that evil man didn't hurt you?"  
  
Mrs. Figg sat up, and got herself partially under control, wiping tears from her eyes.  
  
"The next time those death eaters show up they will be on the look out for all of you. I suspect they will never underestimate a cat ever again Jasper."  
  
At this she started laughing again.  
  
"I don't think it's very funny. Aren't you embarrassed that five cats were able to defeat seven wizards?" Tipsy was looking very offended now.  
  
"Four cats," said Scorn who had been sitting off to the side. "Mirth's not here, and I think we had help."  
  
She looked pointedly at Mrs. Figg, who looked straight back.  
  
"That man with the crippled foot, " Scorn continued "the one who left last, he was helping us. He's the spy isn't he."  
  
Mrs. Figg sighed. "Well, I don't know anything about the crippled foot, but the last man to leave, yes, he was the spy."  
  
Trouble looked surprised. "Who was it?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"What about Mirth?" Jasper asked.  
  
"I don't know that either. Perhaps you and Tipsy should look for her."  
  
Tipsy might have argued, but a glare from Scorn stopped her and she followed Jasper out of the room.  
  
Scorn and Trouble looked at each other, and then at Mrs. Figg who was examining the wand in her hand.  
  
"It's been a very long time since I used one of these. I am rather surprised that the spell worked."  
  
"What did you do to him?" asked Trouble.  
  
"It's a very old spell," a self satisfied smirk lit her face. "I forced him to aparate."  
  
"To where?" Scorn said, obviously impressed.  
  
Mrs. Figg chuckled "No where, that's the best part of the spell. It stops half way, trapping the person."  
  
"The evil man is trapped?"  
  
"Oh, not for long. He'll get out of it soon enough, but it will slow him down. And it got him out of my living room anyway."  
  
"We didn't even have to burn the house." Scorn pointed out.  
  
"Which reminds me," Mrs. Figg turned a stern eye on Trouble. "You owe me a vase."  
  
Before Trouble could protest Jasper and Tipsy came into the room looking sullen.  
  
"We couldn't find any sign of her." Jasper said.  
  
"Well," said Mrs. Figg standing up and brushing the dust off her clothes. "I think the first thing we need to do is pay a visit to Albus. All of us." 


	10. Katoikia

Dumbledore, Sirius and Arabella were all sitting in Dumbledore's office. He had given them both tea to calm their nerves, but neither one looked even remotely calm. Sirius alternated between pacing about the office rapidly and sitting in the chair fidgeting. He was starting to get on Arabella's nerves. Not that she wasn't just as worried, probably even more worried. It was her mother in danger after all, but her emotions usually came in extremes. She jerked herself out of her thoughts when Dumbledore asked her a question.  
  
"Have you Arabella?"  
  
"Er- have I what?"  
  
"Have you ever visited France?"  
  
He was completely serious. Arabella could not understand exactly why they were talking about France at a time like this.  
  
"No, no I haven't Prof- Albus."  
  
Sirius was sitting fidgeting with a loose thread on his robes. Arabella was about to scream at him when there was a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in."  
  
To her great relief Penelope entered. She leapt up to give her cousin a hug.  
  
"Penny! This is wonderful, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Professor Dumbledore asked." but she never finished the sentence she had intended to say. She was staring at Sirius eyes wide. To Arabella's surprise Sirius also had a blank wide eyed expression on his face.  
  
"Penelope, I trust you remember Sirius Black. He was wrongly imprisoned in Azkaban for a long time, but he is working for us."  
  
Arabella almost laughed. Penelope's face was one of complete confusion. She barely managed to choke out something that sounded like "alright."  
  
Sirius's initial shock had worn off now, but there was still a glazed look in his eye.  
  
"I don't want to put any pressure on you Penelope, but I have a favor to ask of you."  
  
Penelope managed to focus on Dumbledore. "Go ahead."  
  
"I would like you to join the staff this year at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."  
  
If it were possible Penelope's eyes got even bigger, and this time Arabella couldn't hold herself back, she jumped to her feet.  
  
"Are you nuts!" she yelled at Dumbledore. "None of them have lasted more than a year. The last one ended up locked in his trunk the entire year! There is no way."  
  
"Arabella," said Penelope quietly. "Please let me-"  
  
"No! There is NO way I am going to let you do this! I MIGHT HAVE LOST THE ONLY OTHER FAMILY MEMBER I HAVE TONIGHT. I AM NOT GOING TO RISK YOU FOR A STUPID JOB!"  
  
Penelope was not impressed by her cousin's outburst, she had dealt with them before. Looking her cousin straight in the eye she spoke evenly.  
  
"First, lower your voice. Second, the job isn't cursed. And third, this is not your decision to make."  
  
Arabella sat back down and stared at her feet, afraid to look back up.  
  
"It's alright Arabella, no harm done."  
  
Dumbledore was at her side now.  
  
"I expect you are worried about your mother, but I feel we are going to hear from her soon."  
  
Arabella was going to ask how he knew, but Dumbledore kept right on going.  
  
"I won't lie to you all, there are dark times. However, we all decided long ago what we are willing to sacrifice. We must continue to fight the battle we started many years ago, I need you here Penelope."  
  
Penelope weighed it in her mind.  
  
"Alright. I'll do it."  
  
"Excellent my dear. Now Sirius, I am going to need your help as well."  
  
Sirius, who had been watching the scene very quietly looked up puzzled.  
  
"What is it you need me to do?"  
  
Dumbledore was about to say what, when there was another knock on the door, and to Arabella's relief her mother came into the office, followed by four cats.  
  
"Marie," said Dumbledore going to meet her.  
  
"Albus, it's been a very long time." She greeted him and then her daughter and her niece.  
  
"I have a feeling everything did not go to plan tonight Marie." Dumbledore said in a pleasant conversational tone.  
  
"No, not exactly," she answered back matching his attitude. "There was a slight bump, but my cats handled it very effectively."  
  
As she motioned to them all four looked uninterested, as if they were constantly fighting of the most powerful wizards ever.  
  
"Indeed," said Dumbledore, his eye's sparkling. "Well I would like to hear what happened, but we are on our way out. You, and the cats, must come with us."  
  
"Where are we going?" Penelope spoke up.  
  
"France," Arabella suggested.  
  
She could have sworn Dumbledore gave her a sharp look, but he was smiling now.  
  
"No, we are going to see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Remus. We will have to travel by floo powder, it's the quickest way."  
  
Dumbledore said no more about the place, but handed a jar to Mrs. Figg who took a handful of powder and threw it into the flames. As she stepped in she spoke loudly, "Phoenix." And was whisked away.  
  
Arabella, Penelope, Sirius and Dumbledore followed. Soon they were all standing inside a cozy room with huge fluffy couches and chairs. It was very much like a house, but an eclectic one. In one corned there were all fashions of muggle devices and papers, in another section was group of objects obviously from the wizarding world.  
  
"Welcome to Katoikia." Dumbledore said proudly.  
  
All of a sudden the lights went out. They were plunged into darkness.  
  
***  
  
Harry couldn't believe all the wonderful things that were in the place Lupin took him, Ron and Hermione. There were loads of magical and non- magical devices. Lupin showed them one-- a deceit detector. It looked like a small metal detector and Lupin said you could use it to find people who were being deceitful, but unfortunately it did not tell you what they were being deceitful about.  
  
As Lupin showed them more Harry drifted off to his own thoughts. Why hadn't Voldemort killed him today? The death eater had told Harry that Voldemort had only wanted to torture him. Harry understood that Voldemort wanted to see him in pain, but after many attempts to kill him why did he pass up another opportunity?  
  
Perhaps Voldemort was trying to scare Harry, or maybe he was trying to prove his power. But Voldemort had warned Harry that he was not safe anywhere, so if Voldemort had so much power why wasn't Harry dead yet? There must be a reason he though grimly. Voldemort certainly wouldn't keep him alive out of kindness.  
  
Lupin led them into a kitchen, sat them down at the table and started to make tea.  
  
"Are you okay Harry?" He asked.  
  
Harry forced a smile.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
Lupin didn't look convinced, but continued making the tea. He had just poured the tea when there was a noise in the other room. Ron got up to see who it was. All of a sudden the lights went out. They were plunged into darkness.  
  
***  
  
Four men sat huddled around a table in a dark room saying nothing except for a few nervous words. All of a sudden a dark figure aparated next to the table. The four men jumped, and the dark man sneered under his hood.  
  
"Where is he?" he snarled at them.  
  
"I am right here," replied a cold voice from behind him.  
  
It was Voldemort.  
  
"Are you satisfied? I have come to meet you," the cold voice mocked.  
  
"That remains to be seen."  
  
"You are forgetting your place!" Voldemort spat with cold furry  
  
"No," said the dark man evenly. "You are forgetting yours. I am not your servant, you are not my master. If you want Dumbledore and the boy dead you will listen to me."  
  
"I could just kill the boy--"  
  
"You know you can not."  
  
The two men stood facing each other until Voldemort controlled his anger and broke the silence.  
  
"What must I do?"  
  
The dark man drew out a roll of parchment  
  
"My instructions are here. Follow them to the letter. You know how to contact me when you have finished."  
  
Voldemort took the parchment from him. He opened it and began to read a few lines, a cruel smile crawling onto his face.  
  
The dark man watched this and continued. "And no more pointless attacks on the boy."  
  
Voldemort looked up with anger, but the dark man had already disaparated. Instead Voldemort turned to the four men at the table who cowered before him.  
  
"Crucio!"  
  
One of the men fell from his chair jerking violently. Voldemort lifted the curse and pointed his wand at another of the men. The man shrank back, waiting for the curse to come.  
  
"It's time to leave," said Voldemort and he turned to go. 


	11. Cat and Rat

Scorn stepped out of the fireplace quickly. She looked at Tipsy who was scowling and covered in soot while Trouble and Jasper were looking the room curiously. Scorn moved over by Tipsy and they exchanged glances. Neither one would be traveling by floo powder anytime soon. Scorn kept half an eye on Mrs. Figg as she tried to clean herself up. The humans were all looking around in amazement at the room when Scorn heard movement from another room. Trouble, Jasper and Tipsy heard it too, and they all headed towards the noise to see what it was. They got halfway there when the lights suddenly went out. Scorn looked back at Mrs. Figg, who had her wand out, and lighted, looking in their direction.  
  
Just then someone burst into the room. It was the human werewolf and the three younger humans. The cats passed them by and entered the kitchen.  
  
"Can you smell her?" asked Trouble.  
  
"I can," replied Tipsy wrinkling her nose.  
  
"We should split up and look for her," suggested Jasper.  
  
"In pairs," Scorn state firmly. "Trouble come with me, Jasper, Tipsy, check over there."  
  
The cats split up Scorn and Trouble made their way into another room. They searched for a while, but turned to go back when they lost the scent. They had entered the kitchen again when they heard Tipsy call out.  
  
"Scorn, Trouble, here!"  
  
The two cats raced side by side. They found Tipsy standing over a deathly still Mirth.  
  
"We found a rat attacking her, Jasper chased it off, quick go find him!"  
  
Trouble ran after them, Scorn however ran as fast as she could back to Mrs. Figg. The humans were all crowded around a group of chewed wires. Scorn could sense their worry, but ran up to Mrs. Figg and bit her ankle. She then went to Arabella and bit hers as well. Having got their attention she started to run back yelling over her shoulder to Mrs. Figg.  
  
"Mirth is hurt, Tipsy says it was a rat. Jasper and Trouble went to find it."  
  
Mrs. Figg got very pale, but ran after Scorn followed by the rest of the humans. When they reached Tipsy Mrs. Figg hesitated. She told the three younger ones to try and help her, which they did with insolent stares. Scorn had to slow down now. She didn't know were the others had gotten to. She continued through the house when there was a loud scream from a room. Scorn, followed by the humans lunged into it. There was Jasper, lying on the floor and a small man with watery eyes clutching Trouble by his tail.  
  
Scorn didn't stop to think, but jumped onto the face of the small man, scratching hard. She heard Trouble hit the floor and a very strong hand pull her off the man's face. He held her by her head in front of him, crushing it very slowly. Scorn tried to escape, but his hand was too strong. This was it, she thought as she lost consciousness, he would crush her head in.  
  
***  
  
Harry watched as Hermione tried her best to help the cat. He was very confused. After the lights had gone out they had met Dumbledore, Sirius, Mrs. Figg, Arabella and Penelope. Dumbledore had tried a few spells to get the lights back on, but they didn't work so Harry, Hermione and Mrs. Figg went in search of the fuse box. What they had found was broken wires looking like they had been chewed. Mrs. Figg tried to fuss with the wires while Hermione and Harry offered suggestions. The rest watched asking questions like "what is that?" and "why are they colored?" Ron announced that they should call his dad who was very interested in ecletriticy, but Harry was secretly glad Mr. Wesley was not here hovering over them, trying to help.  
  
It had only been a few minutes when the white cat had shown up. She had ran in full speed, bit Mrs. Figg and Arabella and ran off again. Mrs. Figg had ran after the cat followed by Dumbledore and Arabella. After a few confused seconds the rest ran after them as well. Mrs. Figg only stopped long enough to tell Harry, Ron and Hermione to watch the cat laying on the ground, and Dumbledore had not stopped at all.  
  
Ron looked at Harry.  
  
"What do you suppose happened?"  
  
Harry shook his head. "I don't know. It must be something bad though. Maybe whatever chewed those wires got the cat."  
  
Hermione looked up. "I wonder what could have done that? It must have been very small to chew the wires without anyone noticing, but if it was so small then how could it have hurt the cat?"  
  
The three of them sat in silence.  
  
"I'm going to find them," Harry said standing up.  
  
But before he could go anywhere Mrs. Figg, Arabella and Penelope came in the room, each with another cat in their arms. They were followed by Dumbledore whose eyes were twinkling strangely. Next came Sirius and Lupin when Harry saw them his heart stopped. They were both grinning ear to ear and directly behind them was a stunned Peter Petigrew.  
  
Harry ran over to Sirius and hugged him tightly. Sirius hugged him back. This was what Harry had wanted more than anything else in the world. His godfather would be free now, and Harry would finally have a home.  
  
***  
  
Harry had forgotten all his problems within five minutes. Despite the late hour no one even considered sleeping. Mrs. Figg and Dumbledore managed to revive the cats very quickly. Mirth explained that she had chased after the rat, but it had attacked her. It left her out in the middle of nowhere, but somehow she had picked up Mrs. Figg's scent. She supposed the rat had followed her to the house, because it had attacked her after she found a way in. Everyone seemed to believe her, Harry thought, except for the white cat which was sitting stiffly on a chair looking disapprovingly at Mirth.  
  
It wasn't too long before the Weasleys and the Grangers showed up. Mr. Weasley had spent the day touring muggle London with Hermione's parents, and was very anxious to talk about it until Dumbledore told him what had happened today. At this both sets of parents turned pale, but all worry's were forgotten when they saw Peter.  
  
Dumbledore had done a binding spell on Peter, and something else Harry didn't understand. He had spent quite a bit of time examining the new silver hand which had been a present from Voldemort. He seemed satisfied after his examination and Harry didn't ask the headmaster what he had been looking for.  
  
Arabella, Penelope Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Weasley were soon in the kitchen making mountains of food. Mrs. Figg joined them supervising Penelope as she made a special chicken for the cats. It wasn't long before the chairs in the main room were pushed to the side to make room for a long table. Remus was setting the table when he looked up at Dumbledore.  
  
"There is one less seat at the table."  
  
"I will not be joining you Remus," answered Dumbledore. "There is much business I have to finish tonight. You understand that if we are going to prove Sirius innocent there is much work that needs to be done."'  
  
He looked right at Harry when he said it. Harry's heart fell. Now that they had Peter Harry had assumed that Sirius was as good as free, but at Dumbledore's words he realized that it wasn't so easy. Even with Peter they would still have a lot of work convincing people of his godfather's innocence.  
  
"Now Harry," said Dumbledore putting a hand on his shoulder. "We will worry about tomorrow when it comes. For now you must enjoy the celebration, have fun tonight, opportunities like this can not be missed."  
  
Harry looked at Dumbledore. His eyes were sparkling behind his glasses merrily and he was smiling broadly. Harry smiled back at him.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
With that Dumbledore disaparated.  
  
Harry couldn't help having a good time. He couldn't decide what the best part of the night was. Penelope and Arabella throwing whip cream across the table at each other, the look on the cat's (Tipsy) face when a stray glob of the whip cream hit her, or Remus hiding a windup jumping frog in his godfather's mash potatoes. And the food was excellent when it wasn't being thrown around the room.  
  
Remus, Sirius, Arabella and Penelope soon started reminiscing about their days at school. Hermione asked many questions about the classes and teachers while Ron rolled his eyes and asked Sirius about the pranks they had pulled.  
  
Arabella was in the middle of a story about a prank involving a few peeled grapes and a sock when she stopped abruptly. Mrs. Figg was looking at her daughter with disapproval.  
  
"I thought you said you had nothing to do with that episode."  
  
Arabella sifted in her seat uncomfortably.  
  
"Well, you see- er- well,"  
  
"It was me," Penelope laughed. "I was getting revenge on some girl, Jules or something like that, she had-"  
  
Now it was Penelope's turn to shift in her seat. Harry noticed that Sirius was looking very strangely at Penelope.  
  
"That was YOU?" he asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Remus burst out laughing uncontrollably. "YOU! and all this time we were so sure it was Olivia! That had to be one of the best pranks ever pulled, even us marauders were impressed. I salute your cunning Penny."  
  
With that Remus gave her a mock salute and got a face full of gravy from Sirius. After that more food ended up on the floor, ceilings and walls then did in people's mouths. Even the adults got into the fight, Mrs. Weasley threw a platter full of cranberry sauce full into Mr. Weasley.  
  
Things calmed down once Arabella brought out desert, and the cats came back into the room looking disdainfully at the messy party. As if to set a good example the white cat started washing her tail. Mrs. Figg eyed her cats and told them that they were welcome to go to bed if they did not want to join in the fun. The white cat glared at Mrs. Figg, and they all sauntered off.  
  
After dinner Mrs. Figg and Mrs. Weasley showed Mrs. Granger how to clean up using magic while Mr. Granger showed Mr. Weasley how a lamp worked. Sirius and Remus offered to do the dishes while Arabella and Penelope looked on, and Harry, Ron and Hermione sat by the fire. They had started out talking about all the things that had happened that day, but ended up sitting in silence watching the happy expressions on the adults.  
  
"Do you get the feeling this is the last time everyone will be together like this?" Harry asked.  
  
"Come on Harry, you can't possibly be depressed now," said Ron trying to cheer him up, but letting out an involuntary sigh.  
  
"I think you are both being very silly," said Hermione critically. "Look at them. Not one of them has had an easy life, but they all survived, and they can all still laugh."  
  
Harry was startled. Not too long ago he had been thinking the exact same thing, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. It was now very late, and the Grangers and Weasleys said their good-bye's. After they had left Remus and Sirius showed Harry to the east wing which was full of bedrooms. Mrs. Figg, Arabella and Penelope all said goodnight before going to bed, and Remus followed shortly after them. Harry got into bed and took his glasses off. Every bone in his body was tired and he had a hard time staying awake, but his godfather stood next to his bed for a second before bending over and brushing the hair from Harry's forehead.  
  
"Goodnight," he said kissing Harry gently on the top of his head.  
  
Harry mumble goodnight staying awake just long enough to hear Sirius whisper "I love you." 


	12. Down with the Malfoys

The next month before school flew by. Harry had never had such an enjoyable month. Arabella, Lupin, and Harry worked non stop finding people who would believe Sirius' innocence, while Sirius himself was gone most days off on some mission for Dumbledore. Penelope stopped by every so often to check on her cousin and Aunt, Mrs. Figg, who spend a great deal of time treating her cats and watching over Peter.  
  
Harry had gotten the chance to learn the cats names, and he admitted that they were useful. He especially liked Jasper, who seemed the most friendly. Trouble was fun, but a little too crazy, Scorn was very dignified and serious, Tipsy was prissy and Mirth was friendly, but didn't spend a lot of time with the others.  
  
Right before the start of term Harry met Ron and Hermione in Diagon Alley to buy their school things. After an exhausting trip they settled down for some ice cream. They were chatting pleasantly when three unwanted people showed up. Malfoy strutted over, Crabe and Goyle, as usual, not far behind.  
  
"What do you want Malfoy."  
  
Ron was standing before Draco had a chance to get close. He looked like he was ready to hit Draco right there, and Hermione, seeing this, put a restraining hand on Ron's arm. Harry had never seen Ron so worked up, and then looking at Draco he realized that Draco was just as worked up. They both stood glaring at each other, Malfoy so angry he couldn't even speak.  
  
"Well, speak up or get the #*$$ out of here Malfoy!"  
  
Malfoy couldn't even manage a fake smile, he spoke with animosity dripping from every word.  
  
"You better watch out Weasley. Don't turn your back on me this year- or I'll kill you."  
  
Hermione gasped, Draco had spoken with such calm and clarity. Harry looked at Ron, he was seconds away from lunging at Draco, and Hermione wouldn't be able to stop him. Quickly stepping between Ron and Malfoy he looked Malfoy straight in the eye.  
  
"Clear off Malfoy."  
  
To Harry's surprise he did clear off, but not before giving Ron a nasty look.  
  
Hermione was shaking now.  
  
"Ron, what was that all about, Malfoy. he wasn't. he wasn't serious was he?"  
  
"Oh, I'm sure he was." Ron said darkly.  
  
"Alright Ron, what's going on? Why did Malfoy say he wanted to kill you?" Harry watched as his best friends faces faltered slightly. When he spoke his voice was steady.  
  
"My dad led another raid on the Malfoy Mansion a week ago. He got an anonymous tip from someone, and he ended up finding a whole bunch of illegal dark magic items. Malfoy denied he knew anything about it, but after Voldemort's first attack the Ministry has been keen to set an example. They fired Lucius, and he's facing an inquiry. Rumor has it that he's been using most of the family fortune to bribe high ranking officials and blackmailing those he doesn't bribe, but everyone is too scared of Voldemort to be frightened of Lucius. Draco is mad at me because my dad is the cause of his father's downfall, the git. If he wasn't such a lousy-"  
  
"But Ron," Hermione interrupted. "Why are you so mad at him? I thought you were going to explode the second you saw him."  
  
Ron looked down, stammered and turned red. It was all too obvious that he was trying to hide something.  
  
"Just tell us Ron." Harry pleaded.  
  
Ron took a deep breath and looked up again.  
  
"Lucius tried to kill my dad," he said evenly. "He came to our house one night, he was so mad, and he was about to curse my dad when a man in a dark cloak with a hood appeared out of nowhere and stopped him. I thought for a second he would kill Lucius, but he just told him to get out. And then the dark man left. Not a word to anyone."  
  
Harry and Hermione didn't know what to say. It was all very strange, who was the man who had saved Mr. Weasley?  
  
***  
  
Lucius Malfoy burst into the room. Usually calm and cool, no one had ever seen him so angry. A few death eaters stepped back from him as he entered the small room.  
  
"Something wrong Lucius," said Voldemort in a very cruel voice.  
  
Lucius' eyes went from Voldemort to a dark figure beside him. His eyes narrowed and he restrained his temper slightly. When he spoke it was with his usual chilly voice.  
  
"You. You are the one who interfered tonight."  
  
"He is Lucius. And it is very lucky for you that he did. If it wasn't for Theavolos I would have killed you by now."  
  
Lucius steamed at Voldemort's words.  
  
"Theavolos is it. Why exactly would you kill me? It was a personal matter."  
  
"You no longer act as an individual Lucius, you are my servant. Or have you forgotten"  
  
It was barely a whisper, but Lucius went pale.  
  
"You have denied me for the last time, the next time not even Theavolos will be able to stop me from killing you."  
  
Lucius bowed very low and shuffled out the door very quickly. He could hear Voldemort's hellish laugh as he left.  
  
***  
  
Harry and Hermione did all they could to comfort Ron, but it wasn't much. There was no way to reassure him about anything except that they would not let the bloody &@%%*& git Malfoy so much as look nasty at Ron.  
  
At home Sirius listened to Harry's story about Ron.  
  
"hmmm," he said thoughtfully. "I suppose it's good that someone was there. Looks like Arthur has a guardian angel."  
  
"But Sirius, we don't know why that man saved Arthur, and if Lucius did what he said don't you think that he could be a dark wizard."  
  
"umm," said Sirius noncommittally. "Seems like we don't have enough information."  
  
Sirius caught Harry's worried look.  
  
"Tell you what, I will see Dumbledore tomorrow, I'll ask him about it. Will that make you feel better?"  
  
Harry's face lit up with a smile.  
  
"Yes! Thanks Sirius!"  
  
Sirius hugged Harry and tucked him into bed. Harry fell asleep instantly.  
  
***  
  
It seemed that Harry had hardly shut his eyes when Mrs. Figg was shaking him gently.  
  
"Harry dear, time to wake up! The Hogwarts express leaves at eleven!"  
  
Harry sat up. It was September the first. Although Harry enjoyed staying in his new house he missed Hogwarts. After dressing Harry went into the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs greeting him as he opened the door. Jasper meowed at Harry as he came in, and rubbed against his leg.  
  
"Morning Jasper. Morning Arabella."  
  
Arabella smiled at Harry as she set a plate on the table and dished him some eggs, bacon and toast.  
  
"Good morning Harry, excited for school? Sirius had to leave early this morning, but there is a note from him on the table."  
  
Harry frowned and picked up the note as he sat down at the table.  
  
Dear Harry, I'm sorry I can't see you off to school today, but I had to leave early. With any luck next year I will be able to wave goodbye to you from Platform 9 ¾ IN PUBIC. Behave yourself on the train, and at school. I will be checking up on you frequently, but don't be afraid to send Mrs. Figg and Arabella owls. I'll ask Dumbledore about the mysterious man. Love, Sirius  
  
Harry put down the note.  
  
"Everything okay Harry?" Arabella asked.  
  
"Yeah, fine," said Harry.  
  
He pushed the uneasy feeling from his head and concentrated on eating his breakfast. Arabella asked him a question about the Gryffindor quidditch team, and soon they were in a debate about keeper tactics. Mrs. Figg came in the kitchen 45 minutes later.  
  
"Harry! Arabella! You need to leave now, or Harry will be late!"  
  
Arabella jumped up.  
  
"Oh my gosh, Harry are you packed! If you are late I'll never forgive myself."  
  
Harry laughed at her. "I'm ready, don't worry, I'll grab my trunk and we can go."  
  
The car ride to Kings Cross was uneventful. Harry and Arabella talked more quidditch, and by the end Harry decided that if she and Oliver ever got together there would be no stopping them. 


	13. Derangement

Voldemort looked skeptically at Theavolos.  
  
"The train?"  
  
Theavolos scowled at Voldemort. "Yes, I've already explained it to you once, I won't do it again."  
  
"Very well, but what about Wormtail, he is missing."  
  
"I'm afraid Wormtail was not as loyal as you thought. I wouldn't count on seeing him anytime soon, there are many rats in England."  
  
Voldemort was getting more angry with word out of Theavolos' mouth. As soon as Voldemort was through with him he would kill him, but for the present.  
  
"Fine, I'll send someone else. Crabe! Goyle!"  
  
Two men slunk forward from the group of death eaters.  
  
"Make sure the train never reaches it's destination."  
  
The two men groveled on their way out of the room.  
  
***  
  
Lupin watched the train as people started to board. He caught snips of their conversations.  
  
"No, I haven't read that book-"  
  
"Do you really think he will ask her?"  
  
"What about the quiet one- Lisa is it?"  
  
"lets spray some of the stinky perfume in our compartment-"  
  
Finally Lupin spotted two men he recognized in a bad excuse for muggle clothing. Stepping smoothly behind a column he pulled out his wand pointed it at the two men and muttered inaudibly under his breath. The two men both tripped, looked at each other and got on the dark blue train.  
  
He turned as if to go, but in half turn he stopped. He had the distinct feeling someone was watching him. Looking around Remus saw no one. Wild thoughts whipped across his head- torture, death, and worse than death- all possible if he was caught. Trying desperately not to panic he started walking. He hadn't minded undercover work until he had seen the bodies of Voldemort's last victims. They were mutilated in ways never dreamed of. But he couldn't think about that, not here, he had to control himself, there was a lot at stake. Stiffening internally Lupin headed out of the station.  
  
***  
  
Mrs. Figg was sitting quietly by the fire. She had a book in her lap, but she hadn't turned the page for a half hour. She sat, and thought, and watched fire flicker orange and yellow. She was so intent on the colors that she didn't hear the soft pop that announced her visitor.  
  
"Marie dear," a friendly voice said. "Are you alright?"  
  
Mrs. Figg turned around and saw Dumbledore. She smiled broadly.  
  
"Albus. How delightful Please come and sit down, would you like some tea?"  
  
"Never mind the tea," said Dumbledore sitting next to Mrs. Figg in front of the fire. "I don't have very long."  
  
"That's right. shouldn't you be at school? The students will be arriving soon!"  
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "I have a few hours, all the preparation I had to do I finished weeks ago."  
  
"It's just like you to be on top of things."  
  
They sat in friendly silence for a while. Mrs. Figg found herself slip into the past- eleven years ago.  
  
She had been living on Privet Drive for about six years, her husband George had been working at Hogwarts, and Arabella was trying to find a home for herself- just a few years out of school. That summer had been a great one. When Mrs. Figg wasn't watching Harry for the Dursleys she was able to visit her daughter and her husband. It killed her not having them close, but George would have it no other way, and neither would she.  
  
After all, they had known Voldemort in school.  
  
Dumbledore seemed to read her thoughts.  
  
"There is nothing you could have done Marie."  
  
"I know," Mrs. Figg. "But I can't help wondering if I had somehow given him a chance, if it would have turned out different."  
  
"You gave him a chance. We all did."  
  
He was right, She had given him a chance. More than one actually. She slipped back further in her memory. Ever since their first year at Hogwarts Tom Riddle had been infatuated with the lovely Marie Cantos, but she had been repelled by his inner cruelty.  
  
Tom had been a model student of course, and he was always polite to the teachers and to his fellow student. at least on the surface. Mrs. Figg had seen his inner self. The part that would torture puppies and taunt students, the part he didn't show except to his closest friends. And he desperately wanted lovely Marie to be his friend. To her, it was his one redeeming quality, she though he was capable of love.  
  
But he wasn't, not real love anyway. Tom didn't love Marie, he had wanted her to be his, just like one wants a car, or a house. It was possession, not love. She had never really fallen for it, holding Tom off at arms length every year. They were friends, and frequently they were fighting. Every now and again she found out about something he had done that was so mean, so cruel, that she wouldn't talk to him for a month. It was during one of these fights that she met George.  
  
George was the very opposite of Tom. He was a good student, but far from perfect, he was clumsy and had a temper that kept the teachers on their toes. She had known George her entire time at Hogwarts, (who didn't?) but it was a the beginning of seventh year when she ran into him (literally) out on the grounds that she fell in love. He had knocked her to the ground, being much bigger than her, and when he had reached down to help her up something had happened. Ever since that day they had loved each other, and even in the darkest times they had never stopped.  
  
Tom had been mad. So mad he yelled at her in front of the entire great hall at breakfast once. George had yelled back, she had to have two of his friends help her stop him from hitting her past friend. That was the end of her friendship with Tom. They didn't talk until the week before their graduation, he pulled her back after their potions final. She had been on the verge of forgiving him when he had told her he would kill George unless she married him. She had looked into his eye and knew he wasn't joking.  
  
She felt nothing but hate from that moment on. His front of kindness, of caring, was stripped away in an instant. Mrs. Figg had stood her ground against him. She had looked him straight in the eyes and told him that if he so much laid one finger on George he would regret it.  
  
As she had turned to go she saw him raise his wand out of the corner of her eye. Whipping around she heard him cry "Crucio!" 'But she was ready. She yelled it back at him before his curse could hit her. They were stuck by their mutual curses for a minute before Frederick Fletcher found them. Tom had looked at her with shock beyond all belief. Mrs. Figg could tell he had administered the curse before, but he had never felt it. She had hurt him badly. Adding to his pain Mrs. Figg had threatened that next time she wouldn't stop at cruciatous, and stormed off.  
  
The next time they met he had become Lord Voldemort.  
  
"Marie, I want you to stop thinking about it," Dumbledore said firmly.  
  
"But they killed George because of me," Mrs. Figg started to choke up. "If it wasn't for me, if I had handled Tom better-"  
  
For the second time in eleven years Mrs. Figg cried about her husband. Voldemort's supporters had killed him. Tortured him and killed him eleven years ago today, just because George had loved her. The pain of finding out her husband was dead flooded back to Mrs. Figg as she wept uncontrollably into Dumbledore's arms.  
  
"Please Marie dear, I know it's hard, but you can't blame yourself. My godson loved you with all his heart. I know that he would have rather been married to you for a second rather than live with out you forever."  
  
Dumbledore had always know what to say. The tears slowly dried as Mrs. Figg got herself under control.  
  
"Better? I have to leave soon so down to business."  
  
Mrs. Figg sat up straight and listened.  
  
"The good first. Fletcher will be coming soon from France to help us. I expect you will enjoy that. Also, Arthur Weasley will be sending a ministry official to take Peter off your hands."  
  
Mrs. Figg smiled at that, she had not enjoyed having the stunned visitor in the house.  
  
"Any questions?"  
  
"One," said Mrs. Figg. "What did you call this place when we first got here?"  
  
"Ah," said Dumbledore please she had asked. "It is called Katoikia, it means-"  
  
He stopped in mid sentence and turned pale.  
  
"Train. Harry.The devil." he mumbled softly before slumping over and falling onto the floor.  
  
Mrs. Figg let out a shriek and tried to catch the old man. She searched desperately for a pulse, but couldn't find one. 


	14. Derailment

On the Hogwarts express Harry felt a jolt.  
  
"What was that?  
  
"What was what?" asked Ron  
  
"Didn't you feel something, a bump.?"  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them had felt anything.  
  
"Never mind," said Harry quickly changing the subject. "here, look what I got for my birthday."  
  
Harry pulled out his mum's book and held it out to Ron and Hermione to look at. Ron looked at Harry as if he had gone bonkers.  
  
"An old poetry book, who gave this to you? The Dursleys?"  
  
"No, it's my mum's. She even wrote in it."  
  
"Wicked Harry!"  
  
Ron leaned in closer to Hermione who was paging through the book. Just then Harry felt another jolt, and a wave a nausea hit him.  
  
"Harry, are you okay," asked Hermione.  
  
"Didn't you feel that jolt?"  
  
"No," said Ron moving closer to his friend. "maybe we should go up to the front of the train, get some help."  
  
"No Ron, I'm okay, really."  
  
But as soon as the words were out of his mouth he slumped to the floor.  
  
***  
  
The 11:05 from Kings Cross to Edinburgh raced northward as usual. The passengers had settled in, and were quietly reading newspaper or paperbacks. Two husky men sat together and exchanged whispers. They got up all of a sudden and moved towards the toilets.  
  
A few second after they left the train shook violently. A few of the passengers looked concerned, but the train kept going. A few more minutes passed. The train gave another shudder, and this time everyone looked up. They heard the screeching of metal and then were shaken out of their seats as the train jumped from the tracks.  
  
When the rescue vehicles arrived on the scene shortly after they were met with chaos. People were wandering all over, looking for lost friends, crying, and just sitting in shock. A few small fires had erupted, and a stomach wrenching smell filled the air. As he was starting to triage one of the rescue workers looked into the sky. A large skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth loomed overhead.  
  
***  
  
"What did you say the name was?" Penelope asked Arabella.  
  
"Theavolos. Sounds nasty doesn't."  
  
Penelope just nodded, so Arabella changed the subject.  
  
"Anyway, Harry came up with the great keeper tactic this morning. I know you won't be playing this year, but maybe you should pass this on to the coach. At least mention Harry's name, that way-"  
  
She stopped and looked at Penelope who hadn't shown any sign of having heard.  
  
"Penelope? Are you alright? Penelope!"  
  
Arabella shook her gently.  
  
"Sorry, I just zoned off. What were you saying?"  
  
"Nothing, what's up?" Arabella frowned at Penelope.  
  
"How much do you know about Theavolos?"  
  
Arabella frowned even more. "Not much really. Just that historically he seems to turn up before thing get bad. This is the first time Dumbledore has ever heard his name in connection with Voldemort though. That's what really scares me."  
  
"Do you think they have information on him in the library?"  
  
"I don't see why not, he's been around for at least the last 1000 years, why are you so concerned?"  
  
"I think he may have been around longer than that." Penelope said grimly. "Theavolos is an old Greek word used for the Devil."  
  
Arabella's jaw dropped as she realized what her cousin was hinting at.  
  
***  
  
Scorn, Trouble and Jasper were sitting in the kitchen when Tipsy bounded in.  
  
"Guys! The living room! Fast!"  
  
Jasper couldn't believe what he saw. On the floor was Dumbledore looking pale, and Mrs. Figg pumping his chest up and down.  
  
"Jasper! Get help quick!" Scorn yelled to him.  
  
He didn't need to be asked twice. He bolted out of the room and into Mrs. Figg's bedroom. Jumping onto a wooden desk he pawed at a mirror restlessly. It turned a creamy pale white.  
  
"Arabella!" he said to the mirror impatiently.  
  
It swirled purple and then blue. If only it would hurry he thought. Suddenly it cleared and Arabella's face peered up at him  
  
"Arabella! Come quick!" Jasper yelled, knowing full well that as far as Arabella was concerned he had told her that there were three men belly dancing in the living room.  
  
He didn't have time to see Arabella reaction because something hit him in the head. The hit was so hard that it threw him off the desk. Mirth stood by the mirror.  
  
"Off." She told it.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Jasper said slowly sitting up, his head was pounding.  
  
"I'm stopping help from coming" Mirth slowly stalked up to Jasper. "Why, what are you going to do about it?"  
  
Jasper tried to stand up taller, but his head hurt and his vision was blurry.  
  
"It's too late, she saw me, I'm sure she's on her way now!" he said desperately wishing he had managed to sound more confident than he felt.  
  
"Oh really? I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. I believe I have hit you too hard, I hope so." And with a cruel laugh she jumped at him. 


	15. Decisions

Harry was confused for a moment. When his eyes came back into focus he saw Dumbledore, he was being choked by a pair of hands with no arms attached. Harry tried desperately to pry the hands from Dumbledore's throat, but he couldn't. He called out for help, but there was no one to hear him. He panicked.  
  
"Harry! Harry, wake up!"  
  
"Do you think we should call someone?"  
  
Harry recognized the voices, but they seemed very far away. He wanted to talk to them, but hesitated, looking at Dumbledore.  
  
"He's quite again, is he still breathing?"  
  
Dumbledore looked at Harry and it hit him, he was dreaming.  
  
"Harry. Please, can you hear me?"  
  
"He's not waking up. we better get someone, the witch who comes around with the trolley"  
  
"Wait!" Yelled Harry, sitting up abruptly.  
  
Ron and Hermione jumped back looking at Harry with wide eyes.  
  
"Harry, are you alright, we were so scared. You were so pale and-"  
  
Harry interrupted. "Dumbledore's in trouble!" Hermione and Ron just stared. "We need to do something, we need to help him!'  
  
It was a testament to their friendship that neither Ron nor Hermione doubted that Harry knew.  
  
"Do you know where he is?"  
  
"Maybe we should tell the conductor-"  
  
"-Or send an owl."  
  
"Hedwig!" Harry jumped up, ran and grabbed Hedwig's cage. "But who are we sending it to?"  
  
"Send it to Professor McGonagall, she'll know what to do," suggested Hermione.  
  
Harry scrawled a fast note and sent Hedwig out the window.  
  
"Should we go up to the front of the train too," suggested Ron. "Maybe someone will know what to do up there?"  
  
Harry answered by bolting out of the compartment and towards the front of the train. Ron and Hermione were following right behind him. They were almost there when Harry stopped. Blocking their path was Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Where you going Potter?" Asked Malfoy with obvious contempt.  
  
"Just get out of my way Malfoy," said Harry while standing directly in front of Ron, who was being held back by Hermione.  
  
To Harry's surprise Draco raised his eyebrows and stepped to the side of the corridor to let Harry pass. Harry walked past Malfoy without giving him a second look, but just as he thought they were in the clear he heard a muffled cry and scuffling. Ron and Malfoy were rolling on the ground hitting each other.  
  
"Stop it! Ron!" Hermione was trying her best to pull Ron and Malfoy apart, with little success.  
  
"I'm going up front," said Harry, not willing to waste anymore time. He ran on down the corridor, hoping he wasn't too late.  
  
***  
  
"Did it work," asked a cold voice.  
  
"Of course it worked," Theavolos replied with a sneer as he started to turn away.  
  
"Wait," said Voldemort softy.  
  
Theavolos stopped and faced Voldemort, his eyes glittered darkly from underneath his hood.  
  
"What is it you want. The train crashed, the dark mark was there. My work is done."  
  
"They are reporting that there were no deaths," Voldemort watched Theavolos' reaction at his words.  
  
Theavolos waited a second before answering, "I think you should talk to you faithful death eaters about that," and he left with a quiet pop.  
  
Voldemort stared at the place where Theavolos had been standing. He couldn't decide whether he had seen a flash of sadness in the eyes of the dark man.  
  
***  
  
Harry reached the front of the train, and was surprised to find not only the witch who pushed the trolley, but also familiar scowling face. When the face spotted Harry the scowl changed into a look of deep loathing.  
  
"Mr. Potter, I was just coming to find you," Snape growled.  
  
"Coming- to find- me?" he managed to force out.  
  
Snape sneered happily at Harry's bewilderment. "Yes Potter, Dumbledore requested that I fetch you. He seemed to think you might be in trouble, but it seems you are just as. fit. as usual."  
  
Harry knew that "fit" hadn't been what Snape wanted to say, but he ignored that, having been reminded why he ran all the way to the front of the train in the first place.  
  
"Dumbledore is in trouble! We have to go find him-"  
  
"Calm down, Potter." Snape held up a hand to silence him. "The headmaster is fine. I spoke with him only two minutes ago. Now, if there are no more objections I think we should go, he is waiting for you."  
  
Harry nodded weakly, wondering how exactly they were going to "go" but being afraid to ask. Snape did not enlighten him, but simply held out a scroll. As Harry grasped it he felt a jerk around his navel and he shut his eyes as the world began to spin. He landed with a thud and fell heavily to the ground. Opening his eyes he recognized the living room from his latest home. Before Harry had a chance to move he felt a hand grab the back of his robes and pull him up off the floor. The journey on the portkey had not seemed to ruffle his stern potions master at all, and Snape gave him a firm push forward.  
  
"They were in the kitchen when I left."  
  
Harry didn't need to be told twice. He reached the kitchen door in record time, as he opened the door he was met with what would have been a funny scene if he hadn't been so worried.  
  
Dumbledore was sitting at the table with a cut of tea in front of him, he looked pale, but his eyes twinkled as he watched the other occupants of the room. Scorn, Trouble, and Tipsy were sitting on the kitchen floor looking mildly annoyed, as was Professor McGonagall. All four were scowling at a plump man in violent pink robes who was doing some kind of ridiculous dance while speaking in a strange whiny cat-like voice. He slowly danced towards one of the corners, and Harry managed to catch a glimpse of Jasper, looking horrified, trapped in the corner. Mrs. Figg tried to get the attention of the man with the pink robes, but he simply pulled her into his dance.  
  
Arabella was standing stiffly by the fridge. She looked up as Harry entered the room and smiled slightly, her smile becoming fixed when she saw Snape enter behind him. She moved towards Snape menacingly, Dumbledore got up from his chair abruptly, but he was too slow. Arabella's tight fist pulled back as she took a full swing at Snape's nose. 


	16. Discoveries

Snape tried to move out of her way, but she managed to graze the very edge of his cheek. As she wound up her other fist for a second try Snape grabbed her arms and clamped them to her side. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Mrs. Figg rushed to pull Arabella away from Snape, who, Harry thought, was looking remarkably calm.  
  
"And what was that for?" he asked coolly.  
  
His calmness seemed to anger Arabella more. "You knew, you knew this was going to happen. You knew and you didn't say anything!"  
  
Harry noticed a slight change in Snape. His eyes, which just a minute ago had been defiant and mocking, were now like empty holes.  
  
"I found out Dumbledore was ill after you did," he said evenly.  
  
"That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Arabella screamed at him. "You knew that mum's cat was helping Peter and you never said a word! Damn you to bloody hell, she could have been hurt, killed!"  
  
Arabella struggled against her mother who had a tight hold on her shoulder. Snape looked at her with a blank face.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Harry almost fell over. Snape had just apologized, and more than that, he had sounded sincere. Arabella stopped struggling and Mrs. Figg let go of her. Much calmer, but not looking any more endeared towards Snape, she took a few steps closer to him. He didn't move, but Harry felt him tense up.  
  
"If you EVER endanger my mother again I will-"  
  
She couldn't even finish the sentence. Snape flinched ever so slightly as she moved past him and out the kitchen door with partially contained furry.  
  
"Don't worry professor, I know you didn't have a choice." Mrs. Figg moved over to Snape and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "And you know Bella, she gets upset so easily."  
  
"I know she didn't mean it," said Snape, but he didn't look Mrs. Figg in the eye, and Harry could tell Snape did not really believe what he had said.  
  
"Why don't you come and sit down Severus," said Dumbledore kindly, and then he turned to Harry. "you too Harry, I was worried about you, and I'm guessing that you were worried yourself."  
  
That was an understatement Harry thought, but he took a seat and thanked Mrs. Figg when she set a cup of tea in front of him. The man in the pink robes had been watching the scene with obvious interest, and Harry noticed that the cats had disappeared while they all had been distracted.  
  
"Severus!" the man walked up to Snape and slapped him heartily on the back. "Still charming the ladies I see."  
  
Snape's brow furrowed with anger at the man. "Yes Mundungus. Still a complete git I see."  
  
Mundungus just laughed and clapped Snape on the back again.  
  
"You always were the joker," he laughed.  
  
Dumbledore saw the look on Snape's face and thought it best to intercede.  
  
"As much as I would like to stay and chat Mundungus, I must be getting back to the school."  
  
"Yes," said McGonagall in a very worried voice. "the students will be arriving soon, and I must be there to meet the first years."  
  
Dumbledore pulled another scroll out of his robes. "Severus, Harry are you ready to go?"  
  
Harry wasn't ready. "But, aren't you going to tell me what's going on?" he gasped.  
  
"Of course," said Dumbledore calmly, "but not until later tonight. We must get back for the feast."  
  
Harry knew they had to get back, Ron and Hermione would be really worried.  
  
"Say now Dumbledore, don't leave quite yet." Said Mundugus's cheerful voice. "I'm sure you've got a few minutes to spare, there is-"  
  
Harry grabbed onto the scroll, as did his two professors. He closed his eyes for the second time he felt a jerk and the sped off to Hogwarts.  
  
Harry hit the ground with a thump. To his surprise Snape help a firm hand on him holding him up.  
  
"Harry," said Dumbledore. "Would you mind coming to my office after the feast tonight, that would be a better time for us to talk perhaps."  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"Well then, why don't you go out the main doors and try to catch Hagrid, no doubt your friends will want to see you the moment the get off the train.'  
  
Harry didn't need to be told twice. He caught up to Hagrid and they went to meet the train together. Harry felt relief when the Hogwarts Express pulled in, and the students started to get off. As Hagrid called for all the first years Harry went in search of Ron and Hermione. It didn't take him long, they were looking for him too.  
  
"Harry! We thought we lost you. Did you find Dumbledore-"  
  
"The conductor said that git Snape took you somewhere, is it true?"  
  
Hermione groaned as Ron called Snape a git, but Harry didn't give her a chance to comment as he launched into the entire story. Which, he realized, was rather short.  
  
"Dumbledore wants me to go to his office after the feast tonight. I think he'll explain to me what's going on then. Now what about Mal-"  
  
Ron interrupted Harry pointing out that they needed to get into a carriage. Hermione was glaring at Ron so Harry decided not to bring up the subject yet. As it turned out he didn't have to wait long to find out. As they entered the great hall they passed Malfoy. He had a black eye, his nose was giant and red like a clowns nose, and one of his arms was sprouting roses.  
  
"Ron! What did you DO to him?" Harry laughed.  
  
"It wasn't me," said Ron smugly. "Well except for the black eye. The rest was Hermione's work."  
  
Harry looked impressed at Hermione who was half scowling.  
  
"Just remember the nose was meant for you Ron."  
  
Harry sat down at Gryffindor table and hoped the sorting would start soon, he was starving. After a few minutes chatting to the rest of the fifth years about their summers McGonagall came in with the first years. She brought out the old sorting hat and set it on the stool. The hall waited in anticipation as the hat began to sing.  
  
Oh the sorting hat am I, am I I will say which of the four houses here will suit you more Inside your head I'll spy the sorting hat am I  
  
To Ravenclaw will be your fate if cleverness you radiate you are always asking why the sorting hat am I  
  
In Hufflepuff will you belong if loyalty in you is strong stick to friends by-and-by the sorting hat am I  
  
In Slytherin you may fall if power is your greatest call even if you must lie the sorting hat am I  
  
and Gryffindor I'll always save for those of you extremely brave and not afraid to try the sorting hat am I  
  
Oh the sorting hat am I, am I put me on, don't be shy the sorting hat am I  
  
The great hall broke into tremulous applause as the sorting hat finished singing. Professor McGonagall took out a scroll and gave instructions to the shivering first years. Harry's eyes wandered for a second. Looking over the staff table he jabbed Ron with his elbow.  
  
"Ow- what the-"  
  
"Look who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher is" Harry whispered.  
  
Ron's eyes widened, and Seamus and Dean, who had heard looked in astonishment too. Sitting beside Snape at the head table was Penelope.  
  
"If you two don't put your eyes back in your head you will miss the entire sorting." Hermione hissed at them.  
  
Harry's attention was jerked back as McGonagall called out for Fletcher, Davey. As Fletcher, Davey got sorted into Gryffindor Harry clapped loudly, and he watching as the young boy ran to sit at the table with the biggest smile Harry had ever seen. 


	17. Questions and Camels

The feast was as wonderful as always, but Harry couldn't enjoy it. His thoughts kept wandering back to the train ride, and Dumbledore. Dumbledore seemed fine now Harry thought to himself as he watched the staff table. He wasn't the only one looking in that direction either. Every male eye in the room kept darting over in the direction of Penelope. She looked great tonight. Her green robes matched her glittering eyes, and her golden hair shone under the candle light. Hermione elbowed Ron for the second time that night.  
  
"I asked you a question, Ron" she said tersely.  
  
"What?" he answered looking at Hermione in a dazed sort of way.  
  
Hermione just rolled her eyes and turned away from him.  
  
"Honestly, she's much to old for you Ron."  
  
Ron turned red, but Harry smiled at her with a would-be innocent face "Do I have to remind you about-"  
  
"No!" It was Hermione's turn to blush.  
  
After dinner Harry said goodbye to his friends before heading up o Dumbledore's office.  
  
"The password's 'pothesi'"  
  
Harry thanked her and waved to them as they left. When he reached the stone gargoyle he stopped, unsure about what to do.  
  
"lemon drop," he said tentatively, but the gargoyle didn't move. "Cockroach cluster?" Still nothing.  
  
"Allow me Harry." Professor Dumbledore smiled fondly at Harry and said "peppermint twist," and the stone wall slid open.  
  
Muted voices were coming from Dumbledore's office. As Harry and Dumbledore entered the office to people pulled apart rather quickly.  
  
"Sirius!" Harry said happily and ran to give Sirius a hug.  
  
"Sorry I wasn't there for you this morning Harry, but I promise to be around more often this year."  
  
Harry smiled and then turned to the other person in the room.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be our teacher Penelope, er- Professor, sorry."  
  
"Don't worry Harry," Penelope laughed cheerfully. "You don't have to call me professor until we are in class. I didn't know until after practice that day..."  
  
She faded off and her face darkened, as did Sirius' as they remembered Voldemort's appearance.  
  
"Now, Harry, I'm sure that you would like to know what happened today"  
  
Harry nodded at Dumbledore, silently thankful the headmaster had switched the subject.  
  
"I'm not sure I have all the answers for you are looking for, but I will try to explain what I do know. Voldemort has joined forces with Theavolos."  
  
Penelope shuddered.  
  
"Theavolos has been around since the beginning of time, and he usually pops up before dark times. No one knows Theavolos' true power, he is more myth than reality to most people. We had the first attack linked to him today. A muggle train derailed, accompanied by the dark mark."  
  
It was Harry's turn to shudder.  
  
"I was informed about the plan to derail the train, and one of my agents performed a spell to stop it, but it did not work."  
  
Dumbledore's face suddenly got very serious.  
  
"No one was killed in today's attack, but as I was linked to the spell that was supposed to save the train Theavolos was able to get inside my head. I'm not sure if it was something he planned, but he took advantage of the situation."  
  
"Inside you head?"  
  
"The protection spell that was cast drew from my own power, I effectively became the spell. When Theavolos broke it he had access to the spell, to me. I don't know that I can explain it any better than that.  
  
"Why could I see you?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
Dumbledore shook his head, "that I can't answer, but I could see you as well Harry. It seems as if something connected us for a moment. I was so graciously helped by Arabella and Professor McGonagall, who told me you had sent her an owl, so naturally I thought it best to reassure you."  
  
Harry had many questions, but before he could ask any of them the door to the office burst open.  
  
"Headmaster, the camel is here, I think we should start-"  
  
Snape stopped abruptly when he saw Harry and gave him a cold look, and then spared one for Sirius, who was looking rather annoyed himself.  
  
"Thank you Severus," said Dumbledore cheerfully. "Well Harry, I believe that's all. You may head back to your common room now."  
  
Harry didn't dare argue. Snape was glaring at Harry with intense dislike, and as Harry passed him he looked down. Something caught Harry's eye. One of Snape's feet was crooked, it looked as if it had been broken over and over again and never healed properly. Harry chanced a glance at Snape who was still staring a Harry with dislike, but now with a blank mask-like face. He knew Harry had noticed.  
  
"I'd hurray Potter, don't want to be caught out past hours. I would hate for Gryffindor to lose points on the first night." His eyes met Harry's, daring him to talk back.  
  
Harry said a quick goodnight to a fuming Sirius and fled the room. As he made his way to Gryffindor tower he wished Arabella had gotten to take a second swing at his potions professor.  
  
"Slimy git," he said to himself, and then out loud "pothesi" to the fat lady. Happy voices met him as he entered the common room. Harry smiled, it was good to be back.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore looked up at the moon. Not quite full. Remus would be finishing up in France right now, preparing for his transformation in a few nights.  
  
Severus was leading him at a quick pace, and Dumbledore knew that his potions master was in a hurry. Over the past few weeks Snape had been busy preparing for classes, working for the Dumbledore, subject to Voldemort's whims, and making the potion for Remus as well as experimenting with improvements for it. When Dumbledore had asked him about why he was trying to make improvements Snape had refused any answer besides that Dumbledore couldn't afford to lose one of his group for a week every month. And now Severus would be busy with this.  
  
Severus had, if possible, become even more withdrawn than usual the past month. He hardly spoke unless asked a direct question, and his answers were no longer than absolutely necessary. Dumbledore had tried to get Severus to open up over the last 11 years. But finally when he thought progress had been made, Voldemort had returned, and Snape had returned to his introverted self.  
  
Sirius and Penelope followed Dumbledore and Snape. For once Sirius had acted like an adult and had given Snape some distance. Penelope was probably responsible for that. The two talked in low voices as they were led out onto the grounds.  
  
A tall man stood by a warm looking cabin, and tied next to the cabin was a camel. The camel looked annoyed, but munched away on it's leather lead while watching the four humans approaching lazily.  
  
"Hello Hagrid," said Dumbledore cheerfully "welcome back."  
  
"Open his mouth Hagrid, let's get this over with."  
  
"Good ter be back professor Dumbledore, sir."  
  
Hagrid nodded at Dumbledore with a wink and did as Snape told, but not without protest from the camel. Snape pulled a small vile out of his robes and forced it down the camel's throat. Hagrid picked up five buckets and handed one to each person, and then waited. Before a minute had passed the camel got a look of disgust on his face and spit suddenly. Five buckets lunged towards the spot where the camel spit, but Penelope got there first.  
  
"One point for me," she said happily.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled, the camel spit again. Five buckets again flashed towards the spot. This time Dumbledore caught the slimy substance in his bucket.  
  
"Aha! We are tied now," he said, but missed the next spit entirely while bragging.  
  
"not anymore," Penelope said again sticking her tongue out.  
  
The camel spit again. Snape glared at the other four, daring them to congratulate him on winning that round. Dumbledore was not intimidated.  
  
"One for you Severus. Perhaps we should keep a scorecard?"  
  
The camel spit again and Sirius pushed Penelope out of the way, but Snape had set down his bucket. He was fuming.  
  
"Is that all this to you," he spat. "A game? I have many things I could be doing right now, I think you four can handle this yourselves. The potion will wear off in a half hour, bring the buckets to my office when you are done," and he stalked back towards the castle.  
  
He stalked off. Dumbledore set his bucket down too as Hagrid pushed both Sirius and Penelope away to collect the next ball of spit.  
  
"Excuse me, I'll will be right back." Dumbledore followed after the irate Professor. "Severus, wait for a moment."  
  
Severus stopped and turned on his heel, but Dumbledore was surprised to see fatigue on his face instead of anger.  
  
"Severus, I think you are working yourself too hard."  
  
Snape stared at Dumbledore, as if he couldn't quite comprehend what the headmaster had said. After a minute Snape let out a long breath.  
  
"I have to finish this tonight," his voice was heavy.  
  
"You must be careful Severus, you can't stretch yourself too thin."  
  
"Everything I do I'm doing for an important reason, and you know that." This time Snape snapped the words out.  
  
"Even so, I can not afford to lose you Severus, and you must know that."  
  
The temper brewing in Snape's eyes relaxed. "Yes headmaster. Hopefully I will be able to get some extra sleep after my classes tomorrow."  
  
"Very well, now, go and finish up Remus' potion and I will bring down the buckets when we are through."  
  
Snape nodded and headed back towards the castle. Dumbledore returned back to the small group around the camel.  
  
"What was his problem?" asked Sirius in a sarcastic voice.  
  
"What's the score?" asked Dumbledore ignoring the question, and catching the next ball of spit in his bucket.  
  
*** 


	18. The Birds

That night Harry told Ron and Hermione what Dumbledore had told him, and about Snape's interruption.  
  
"A camel?" asked Ron.  
  
"Theavolos," said Hermione. "Oh Harry, that's horrible."  
  
"I don't even know who he is," admitted Harry. "Dumbledore just told me he was bad."  
  
"He's been involved with nearly every powerful dark wizard there ever was. Some people think he might even be the devil."  
  
She shivered, and Harry felt goosebumps crawling up his arm.  
  
"But surely he can't be worse than Voldemort," but Ron's voice cracked as he said it.  
  
"Theavolos has amazing power, they say he can do almost anything, except use his power by himself. He only works through other Wizards." Harry sat quietly for a moment and digested what Hermione had said. To Harry's surprise it was Ron who spoke up.  
  
"We'll just have to stop him," he stuck out his chin stubbornly. "Harry, you face Voldemort almost every year and come through alright. Now you've got Dumbledore on your side, and Sirius, Remus, Arabella, Mrs. Figg and Hermione and I behind you. We'll just have to beat him, that's all, you won't fail now."  
  
Harry felt a surge of gratefulness to his red headed friend. Ron had dispelled every single fear Harry had felt. He had promised to himself that he would stop Voldemort, and would, Theavolos was not going to stop him.  
  
***  
  
The next morning at breakfast Harry's good mood failed him, his first class in the morning was divination, and after lunch double potions with the Slytherins. Ron groaned as Hermione passed him the fifth year schedule.  
  
"Trelawney AND Snape in the same day? What do they think they are playing at with these schedules. We'll never make it through our first day."  
  
"Trelawney might be right when she predicts my death today, a pretty safe bet with potions this afternoon." harry said glumly  
  
Hermione sighed, "Harry, Professor Snape isn't trying to kill you, and you two wouldn't have to put up with Professor Trelawney if you had just-"  
  
"Taken muggle studies, like you. We know Hermione." Ron said rolling his eyes.  
  
Hermione looked like she was going to say something but Harry jumped up quickly.  
  
"Well Ron, we better get going or we'll be late. Bye Hermione, see you after class," and he dragged Ron away quickly.  
  
***  
  
Dumbledore shook Snape gently on the shoulder.  
  
"Severus, your class starts in an hour."  
  
Snape opened his eyes slowly. He had fallen asleep at his desk, and he had big bags under his eyes as well as a red line on his forehead that the was the result of resting his head on a pen. He looked at the headmaster for a few seconds as if he had forgotten who the man was, but then his eyes widened in shock.  
  
"An hour! I've still got to-" Snape jumped up, but Dumbledore put a firm hand on Snape's shoulder.  
  
"It's all done. You may want to clean yourself up and have a quick breakfast, but Sirius and I prepared the classroom for your first lesson."  
  
Snape headed in to the classroom to inspect. After a very thorough examination from corner to corner he nodded grudgingly  
  
"Everything seems to be in order Headmaster."  
  
"Now Severus, you've got a long day ahead of you, I suggest you go and get ready."  
  
Snape started towards the door but stopped at the threshold.  
  
"Thank you Albus." He said without turning around, and after a second long hesitation continued out the door.  
  
Dumbledore smiled.  
  
***  
  
Harry's feet felt like they had lead in them on his way up to divination. Obviously Ron felt them same way, and the boys arrived at class with barely enough time to collapse into beanbags around the same table.  
  
"Welcome back," said an airy voice said as Trelawney melted out of the shadows. "I hope you all had a good summer, for it might have been the last summer for some of you."  
  
There were a few gasps and Trelawney gave Harry a pointed stare. Harry yawned.  
  
"I am going to start you on a very important, but often overlooked form of divination today," Trelawney continued ignoring Harry. "Bird entrails..."  
  
It was Ron's turn to gasp in horror. "Did she just say what I think she said?" he whispered to Harry.  
  
Harry looked around the room, even Lavender and Pavarti, who were normally listening to every word Professor Trelawney spoke as if her words were the key to salvation, were staring with horror at her words. "I think she did," replied Harry.  
  
To the class's amazement Professor Trelawney pulled out a bin full of dead birds.  
  
"I have been very busy collecting birds this summer, but you must be very careful with the one you are working with or we may run out. Everyone come up and pick out a bird." Harry looked at Ron, whose eyes were bulging.  
  
"She can't be serious."  
  
"She's serious alright."  
  
No one in the class moved, but this didn't seem to phase Professor Trelawney, she started walking around to each of the tables handing out not only a bird but a knife and a plate to each student. Once finished she took a bird and a knife for herself and went back to the front of the room.  
  
To the classes surprise she started to demonstrate the precise cuts they would be making to open up their birds. Harry felt that Trelawney's airy voice didn't quite match the words coming out of her mouth  
  
"Start at the throat, and make one long cut..."  
  
After she was done explaining she motioned for the class to begin. For a few seconds no one moved. Then to everyone's surprise Neville Longbottom started gutting his bird. Not to be outdone by Neville, Seamus and Dean followed Neville's example. Soon the whole class had begun cutting open their birds. It wasn't until the intestines sloshed out of his birds belly that Harry felt truly sick. Beside him Ron had gone completely pale.  
  
"Good, now that you have all finished that part turn your books to page 157 for the key to interpreting your entrails."  
  
It was too late to go back now, Harry pulled out his book and opened the page. It was bad enough having to cut the bird open, but looking for signs out of it's internal organs was horrid. The only thing that went right was that halfway through the lesson Pavarti almost got sick, and Professor Trelawney had no time to predict Harry's death. But by lunch time no one from class was hungry.  
  
Hermione sat across from Harry and Ron eating, while they picked at their food, both unable to get the bloody plates out of their mind.  
  
"What's up you two? How come you aren't eating?"  
  
Ron gulped and shook his head, so Harry told Hermione about divination. To Hermione's credit she confined her amusement at the story with a well hid, smug smile.  
  
"Well you better at least try to eat, we've got potions next, you'll need your strength."  
  
Ron groaned and Harry chanced a glance up at the head table. Snape was there, looking particularly nasty today. Harry groaned inwardly in agreement with Ron. Could today get any worse?  
  
But as most people who think such things Harry found out that things can always get worse, and frequently they do. As he took a seat in the back of the dungeon classroom with Ron and Hermione, Snape stalked in the room, his expression was set in a foreboding scowl and a look of general disgust at the entire class. Not even the Slytherins could get on Snape's good side today. He started the lesson without a word by writing up a summary on what the should have learned over the summer about drying potions. Then he wrote up the ingredients and growled at them to start.  
  
Harry watched as the potions master sat down at his desk and started reading a pile of parchment on his desk, making occasional notes.  
  
"Come one Harry, we better start, this is going to take ages," Ron poked him in the back.  
  
Harry reluctantly started collecting the ingredients for the days potion. To the surprise of the class Snape didn't say an entire word until the end of class. Hermione leaned over at one point and asked Harry if he though Snape was sleeping. But five minutes before class was done Snape stood up suddenly and announced that everyone should be done now.  
  
"And now we will test some," Snape's eyes darted menacingly around the room. Potter, you first."  
  
Harry waited bravely as Snape brought a wet rag up to Harry's caldron. Harry help his breath as Snape ladled a bit from his caldron onto the rag. Instead of drying the rag turned purple and the potion started to burn a hole in the middle.  
  
"Potter, I suppose you added powdered unicorn horn instead of shredded hoof," Snape was snarling at Harry.  
  
"But, professor," said Hermione from beside Harry. "You wrote on the board..."  
  
"Silence!" said Snape, looking irrate. "Ten points from Gryffindor for Harry's mistake, and twenty because Miss Granger can not HOLD HER TONGUE!"  
  
"But Professor," Hermione tried bravely again. "Just look at the board."  
  
"ENOUGH! Detention Miss Granger, and ten more points from Gryffindor. Class dismissed."  
  
No one could get out of the class room fast enough, but Harry noticed Snape standing very still in front of the board, his head in his hands.  
  
That night at dinner a much calmer Snape sat at the head table. He didn't talk to anyone, but the look of hate for the world was decidedly absent. Harry couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Snape this afternoon.  
  
***  
  
"I wrote it wrong headmaster. I didn't think it was possible. What if I had written that they use goat hair instead of goat whiskers. The whole room would have exploded, they could have been seriously hurt- I-"  
  
Dumbledore held up his hand. "That's quiet enough Severus, you are overworking yourself that's all. No harm done, just get some rest."  
  
Snape looked into Dumbledore's eyes, and Dumbledore saw a haunted look in his eyes.  
  
"There's more? Surely not tonight..."  
  
"Tonight," said Snape softly.  
  
Dumbledore waited a moment before speaking. "Well then I suggest getting some rest before tonight then."  
  
"Yes headmaster."  
  
And with that Snape headed out the door.  
  
***  
  
The next day Harry had care of magical creatures. He, Ron and Hermione left early, hoping to talk with Hagrid before class started. They found him tending some colorful looking birds who seemed to be singing, but no sound was coming out of their mouths.  
  
"Hagrid, are those Fwoopers?" Ron asked curiously. "I had an aunt who forgot to put the silencing charm on her one month and went completely insane."  
  
"That's right Ron. We shouldn' 'ave any problems with that 'ere," Hagrid smiled down at them. "'ow was yer summers?"  
  
They talked with Hagrid for a long time until the rest of the class started filing across the grounds over to Hagrid's hut.  
  
"What did you do over the summer?" Harry asked Hagrid.  
  
"Well I- er- took a trip. Traveled, I did. Picked up these birds too."  
  
Harry was going to ask another question but Hagrid quickly rounded everyone up to begin the lesson.  
  
The lesson was one of the better ones Hagrid had given. The Fwoopers were a beautiful bird who's song made people go crazy. The class got to feed the Fwoopers and pluck a few of it's feathers, which were used for fancy quills. The only blotch on the lesson was Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who snicked through the lesson, while shooting nasty looks and Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry had to stop Ron from plucking all the feathers out of his bird. Ron was about ready to jump on Malfoy, and Hermione saw this and put a hand on Ron's arm.  
  
"Pay attention to what you are doing!" she whispered to him as Ron accidently pulled on his Fwoopers ear and the bird gave a silent screech.  
  
"Be glad you aren't gutting them," said Harry to Ron and that brought a smile to his friends face.  
  
"Right, I'd hate to see what Trelawney would do to these birds," and Ron started laughing hysterically.  
  
Luckily for everyone Draco decided to give Ron his distance and he and Ron managed to make it through the lesson without killing each other.  
  
"What do we have next?" asked Harry as they waved goodbye to Hagrid after class.  
  
"Defense against the Dark Arts," said Hermione. "Lets hurry up so we can get good seats.  
  
Hogwarts had five different defense against the dark arts teachers over the last few years, and people were starting to say the job was cursed. In fact after the last teacher had spent the school year locked up in his own trunk there were rumors that no one would want to take the job, and that Dumbledore would have to teach the classes.  
  
How Dumbledore had convinced Penelope to take the job Harry didn't know, but he was sure it would be an interesting year, and wondered if quidditch defenses would be one of the topics they would discuss. Nothing, however, prepared Harry, Ron or Hermione with what met their eyes as they walked into the classroom. 


	19. and the Bees

Hogwarts had five different defense against the dark arts teachers over the last few years, and people were starting to say the job was cursed. In fact after the last teacher had spent the school year locked up in his own trunk there were rumors that no one would want to take the job, and that Dumbledore would have to teach the classes.  
  
How Dumbledore had convinced Penelope to take the job Harry didn't know, but he was sure it would be an interesting year, and wondered if quidditch defenses would be one of the topics they would discuss. Nothing, however, prepared Harry, Ron or Hermione with what met their eyes as they walked into the classroom  
  
The walls of the classroom had been painted a blue and silver. All the windows had been shut and covered, and the only light in the room was coming from a few candles. The tables, normally in straight rows had been pushed back against the walls, and the center of the room was empty, with nothing but a exquisite rug, which matched the walls. Penelope was nowhere to be seen and as the class entered they stood in the middle of the room looking in awe at the set up, unsure of what to do.  
  
But after a minute the door to the office swung open and Penelope entered with a huge smile on her face. She was dressed in pure white robes, and looked more like an angel than a professor.  
  
"Welcome everyone, I hope you like my decorating job. You can just take a seat on the floor around the mat."  
  
Hermione had to prod Harry and lead Ron to the mat in order to get them to sit down. But once Penelope asked them to get out their books out everyone snapped to attention.  
  
"I want you all to take a moment to read the second paragraph on the third page of the introduction please."  
  
Harry paged through his book, found the paragraph and read:  
  
Another form of wandless defense is called Telepensieve. However, due to the lack of proper study of this field it is not one used frequently. There are some wizards who deny the usefulness of this type of magic. The last minister of experimental magic outlawed the study of telepensieve for that very reason. The law was later revoked after a witch, who spent her entire life developing new methods of the magic, used telepensieve to hold the minister captive in a sugar jar.  
  
Harry looked up when he was done reading, he hoped they would get to learn about this new type of magic. He absent mindedly flipped to the table of contents, looking for the chapter on Telepensieve, but was interrupted when Penelope cleared her throat.  
  
"Dumbledore has requested that I start to teach you about Telepensieve. If you catch on quickly we may get to practice some simple spells by the end of the term, but it's very complicated. The good thing about studying this type of magic is that you have now completed the completed the entire reading for this class."  
  
There were a few gasps at this announcement.  
  
"The paragraph you just read in the only time Telepensieve is mentioned in the entire book. In fact there are only 5 books written on the subject at all. What we will be doing will be mostly practical, with some experimentation, so feel free to chuck your books out the window."  
  
Dean let out a whoop and slammed his book shut. Everyone in the class laughed.  
  
"And now," said Penelope, "I will show you what Telepensieve REALLY is."  
  
With a light wave of her hand the lights in the room dimmed. The remaining light reflected weirdly off of Penelope's white robes. She stepped into the middle of the room took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The class sat in heavy anticipation for a few moments before Penelope opened her eyes again. She smiled at the faces of her excited students.  
  
" I'll need some help with this demonstration. Any volunteers?"  
  
Ron's hand went up immediately, and Penelope motioned for him to join her. Ron jumped up and rushed to the middle of the carpet. Penelope walked over to one end of the rug and motioned for Ron to the other. They stood facing each other and Harry realized Penelope had assumed a dueling stance, without her wand.  
  
"I would like to demonstrate the effect Telepensieve can have on curses. That means, Ron, that I need you to curse me."  
  
Ron's jaw dropped and he got pale. Harry felt just like Ron looked, had their new teacher just asked Ron to curse her? Harry, for a split second, wished that it was Snape, and not Penelope who was teaching them about Telepensieve.  
  
"It's okay Ron, you won't hurt me."  
  
Ron gulped and slowly lifter his wand. He croaked out a indistinguishable word, and a curse shot out of his wand towards Penelope. What happened next took place so fast Harry almost missed it. Penelope held her hand up and made a quick motion. The curse hit her hand, and disappeared.  
  
"Wicked!" said Ron, obviously relieved.  
  
Penelope smiled at the class. "One way of using Telepensieve is took block curses cast upon yourself. This has been tested on almost every curse, including the Imperius curse and the Cruciatus curse. But it can also be used to protect individuals against particular curses."  
  
She walked over to Ron and put her hand on his head, whispering something and making another quick motion with her other hand. Then she stepped back.  
  
"Harry, I will need your help with this demonstration."  
  
Harry stood up apprehensively.  
  
"I have just protected Ron from the disarming spell. I need you to try and disarm Ron."  
  
Harry nodded and looked at his friend. Ron was looking nervous. Despite the positive demonstration, being on the receiving end of the curse was different.  
  
"Don't be scared Ron," Penelope said encouragingly. "I'll be right next to you the whole time."  
  
A few people in the class snickered and Ron turned red, but he stood up straight and help out his wand with created confidence.  
  
"Expelliarmus," said Harry before he had a chance to convince himself not to.  
  
To the class's surprise Ron was jostled lightly by the spell, and he kept his wand easily. There was a smatter of applause for Ron and Harry gave a deep sigh of relief. Penelope gave Ron a friendly pat on the shoulder, and smiled at Harry.  
  
"Well done both of you. Ten points to Gryffindor."  
  
Ron was beaming as he and Harry went to sit back down next to Hermione.  
  
"The last use for Telepensieve has never been fully tested." Penelope continued. "Theoretically, those who are able to use telepensieve should be able to get into others minds. In essence, it would allow a person to attack another person's mind. You could cause someone to do almost anything; suffocate, go crazy, lose direction, the possibilities are endless. However no one has ever recorded a case of Telepensieve being used in this way, although many have tried. It takes a very powerful wizard to force their way into someone's mind, and it can be very dangerous if concentration is broken."  
  
Harry thought instantly of what happened to Dumbledore. Theavolos was undoubtedly a strong wizard, could he know how to use this type of magic?  
  
"Today I'm going to introduce you to a very basic form of this type of telepensieve. I want you all to think of a number and write it down. When it's your turn I want you to open your mind up to me and with any luck I will be able to switch your number without you even realizing it."  
  
The class scrambled for quill ink and paper, and after a quick second they all scribbled something on a paper. Penelope started on the opposite end of the room and concentrated on every person in turn. One by one they silently wrote down another number on the other side of the paper. The silence in the room was eery, and Harry sifted uncomfortably as Penelope made her way around the room. She finished with Ron and Hermione quickly, but as Harry opened his mind to her the class realized something was different. The light got a little bit brighter, and Penelope shut her eyes and took a step closer to Harry. Harry's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he became aware of nothing besides a voice in his head.  
  
Harry, can you hear me?  
  
Yes.  
  
What's your number?  
  
31  
  
no, it's 15.  
  
31 I said.  
  
Why did you pick the number 15 Harry? I didn't. YOU picked 15, I chose 31.  
  
HARRY, Listen to me. Do as I ask.  
  
Deep down in Harry's mind he knew what to do. Reaching out with his mind, imagining that it had hands he threw out the intruding voice, and then pulled part of himself into Penelope's mind. There was a sharp gasp from Penelope and Harry felt a sharp pain in his arms as he crashed back to reality.  
  
When his eyes came back into focus he saw the class looking between him and Penelope curiously and Penelope, white as a sheet looking in amazement at Harry.  
  
"Everyone look at what you wrote down now." she said a little breathlessly.  
  
The rest of the class had two different numbers written down on their paper.  
  
"But Ms. Porticalus," protested Seamus. "I don't remember writing this first one down, I swear I was thinking about the second number the whole time."  
  
There was a mummer of agreement from the rest of the class.  
  
"That's why this type can be so dangerous. Most people would never know that their mind had been tampered with."  
  
"What about me?" asked Harry quietly.  
  
Penelope considered Harry for a moment. "I don't have an answer for you, but I'll do my best to find one."  
  
The rest of the lesson Penelope assigned them their first homework piece. They had to memorize a series of hand motions. It was by far the easiest, and most fun piece of homework they had ever been given. The class talked of nothing else the rest of the day. Harry had to tell the story about how he had heard Penelope in his head over and over as his classmates tried to guess what happened. No one else had known anything had happened to them.  
  
***  
  
Tipsy watched as Jasper started playing with a loose piece of paper absentmindedly.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked Jasper airily.  
  
"I'm bored," said Jasper very simply.  
  
Tipsy sighed. She was bored too. Ever since the funny man who liked to dance left the house had been very quiet. Mrs. Figg and Arabella were busy all day, and they hardly spoke to each other, let alone the cats.  
  
"We should go ask to be fed again." suggested Jasper. "Arabella always hates it when we interrupt."  
  
Tipsy laughed and agreed. The door to Arabella's room was slightly open and as the two cats reached it they heard two voices.  
  
"I mean what I said."  
  
"I know you did Severus, but I don't think now is the time..."  
  
"Then when is the right time?"  
  
Arabella was silent for a moment.  
  
"I'll change the subject." said the deeper voice. "You know what Lupin is going to be doing."  
  
"Yes," answered Arabella and the cats could almost here the frown in her voice. "I'm not happy with it. Have you made any progress with his potion yet?"  
  
"It's ready to be tested. I can't be sure of all the side effects though. If Lupin is willing to be my test case-"  
  
"He'll be willing, I'm sure of it. Thank you Severus for spending time working on it."  
  
"It is important that Dumbledore-"  
  
"I know you didn't do it just for Dumbledore Severus. Your heartless act may fool everyone else, but it wont fool me."  
  
There was a long silence. Tipsy and Jasper edged closer into the room. Arabella was holding a mirror in front of her looking annoyed and embarrassed at the same time. The mirror spoke to her.  
  
"It has long since stopped being an act Bella," and after another shorter pause, "I'm going now, we'll continue our discussion later. Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight Severus."  
  
Arabella laid the mirror down gently. She looked sad now, and Jasper nudged Tipsy.  
  
"Lets go ask her now, she looks like she needs a distraction."  
  
Tipsy nodded and walked into the room. Poor Arabella, the last 11 years had been hard on her. The two cats had to meow very loudly to get Arabella's attention. She shook herself slightly and frowned at then.  
  
"You can't possibly be hungry again," she said skeptically.  
  
Jasper sat down firmly and glared at her. Arabella threw her hands up in exasperation.  
  
"Alright, alright. Lets go find you more food."  
  
The cats lead her into the kitchen, where to their surprise Mrs. Figg was sitting at the table, a mug out and the water kettle just starting to heat on the stove. She looked older tonight, it seemed like her back was bent just a few more inches and her shoulders sagged a bit lower. Arabella checked at the door for a mere second but continued in and put a light hand on her mother's arm.  
  
"What happened."  
  
Mrs. Figg turned to face her daughter.  
  
"Peter," she said solemnly "They let him go."  
  
"WHAT!" cried Arabella suddenly in a rage. "What about all those people he killed, what about Sirius. How can they do that!"  
  
Mrs. Figg shook her head slowly. "The ministry of magic refuses to cooperate with Dumbledore now. It seems that Fudge has some suspicions about his loyalties."  
  
Arabella stood with her mouth open for a few seconds before she stammered out "Dumbledore, they think DUMBLEDORE is in league with Voldemort?"  
  
"How else would he have known about the dark lord's return?" Mrs. Figg's words were bitter and harsh.  
  
There was a short pause and then the kettle started to steam. Arabella grabbed herself another mug, poured two cups of tea and sat down opposite her mother.  
  
Tipsy looked at Jasper, who was looking rather annoyed, his tail flailing angrily.  
  
"You know what this mean," he asked, sounding annoyed.  
  
"That the damn rat we caught is not going to be punished. After all we did to catch it."  
  
Tipsy could feel her blood pressure rising as well. Mrs. Figg looked down at them.  
  
"I'm sorry you two, there is just nothing any of us can do about it."  
  
Tipsy stood up as tall as possible. "Yes, there is."  
  
Jasper didn't need help getting at what Tipsy was saying. "We'll just have to catch him again, that's all," he continued for her.  
  
"There aren't too many talking rats around, it shouldn't be too hard to catch one."  
  
"And when we get him we will deal with him ourselves."  
  
Mrs. Figg sat very still while listening to the cats. "I suppose so, but you do remember what he did last time. He's not just a rat, he can be human as well."  
  
Tipsy and Jasper looked at each other again.  
  
Tipsy spoke again very slowly. "That man is a rat no matter what form he takes. We'll be able to get him."  
  
The subject was closed. Mrs. Figg looked distressed, but she realized the futility of trying to force a cat, especially her cats, to do anything. She quickly relayed the message to her daughter who had been watching them with interest.  
  
"Tipsy, I have something which might help you," Arabella said, and she pulled a minuscule flask connected to a string our of her robes. Inside of the flask were thousands of tiny insects, which looked like they could be bees. "When you find the rat release these. They wont bother you, but they will certainly bother any humans within 10 feet of you."  
  
Tipsy waited patiently as Arabella tied the string around her neck. Then the two cats sped out of the room looking for Scorn and Trouble. 


	20. Escape

Author's Notes:  
  
Thank you Athena, Elendel, Xikum very much for reading. The chapters may come a bit slow until I get Microsoft word on my new computer, for now I have to post this from someone else's. Oh well(  
  
Thanks a bunch for the reviews, yes you will get to find out what's up with darling Snape, but be warned, it might take a while. What would the fun of telling you right away be???? I look forward (in the mean time) for your guesses, I hope.  
  
Athena- are you Greek, or is it just a SN??  
  
************  
  
  
  
There was a soft knock on Dumbledore's office door.  
  
"Come in," he said, and was pleasantly surprised when Penelope entered.  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you headmaster, but I had a few questions."  
  
"You are no bother dear, please, come in and sit down. Would you like a cut of tea?"  
  
Penelope accepted the tea graciously and sat down.  
  
"It's about Harry," she started in at once. "I think he is a natural Telepensier."  
  
When Dumbledore didn't speak immediately she launched into the story of what had taken place in her class that afternoon.  
  
"And I thought, considering what had happened when you were attacked, that maybe Harry is the second natural one we've had."  
  
Dumbledore considered this. "I think you may be right. However, I want you to proceed with caution when you work with him."  
  
"Then you want me to work with him?"  
  
"We have very little choice, it would be foolish to ignore it altogether."  
  
Penelope nodded. "That's all I have headmaster, thank you."  
  
Dumbledore was about to reply when his door banged open again. Sirius stood looking like the crazed mass murderer he was said to be. But as the hunted man came into the office his glossed over eyes came back into focus, and tears started to form. He didn't acknowledge Penelope's presence, tonight he had a mind only for Dumbledore.  
  
"Is it true," Sirius croaked out. "That they let him go."  
  
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "There was nothing I could do Sirius. I'm sorry."  
  
Sirius stood looking at Dumbledore for a few seconds as if he hadn't understood a word that had been said to him. Then all of a sudden his hands covered his face and he collapsed into a chair wailing.  
  
"They will never let me go will they, I will never be an innocent man. Harry," Sirius choked on Harry's name. "Harry will never have a real home."  
  
Penelope knelt down on the floor next to Sirius and put a comforting hand on Sirius's leg. Dumbledore felt his heart break as he watched the man stop wailing and stare quietly into space. Dumbledore had gotten a stiff letter from Fudge that afternoon informing him that Peter had been let go, and that there was still a price on the head of Sirius Black, reminding him that consorting with escaped criminals was highly frowned upon by the ministry. It seems as if Fudge had finally lost his sort of hero worship of Dumbledore, and Dumbledore knew that this change in attitude would make all the difference this year.  
  
***  
  
At breakfast the next morning the mail arrived on time as it always does at Hogwarts. Although Harry wasn't expecting anything he could never fail to be impressed as hundreds of owls soared into the great hall, and swooped down to deliver letters. This morning Pig darted above Ron's head with a manic sort of energy, and Ron had to stand on the table to get him down, while a big screech owl dropped the latest copy of the daily profit next to Hermione. She picked up the parchment and started reading it. To Harry's surprise Hermione suddenly got very pale and started to shake.  
  
Ron, who had Pig tightly in hand as well as a letter from Mrs. Weasley, looked concerned. "Oiy, what's up Hermione?," and because she didn't move, he let go of pig and pulled the paper out of Hermione's hands.  
  
A quick glance and Ron too went very pale and then very red. He looked at Harry's now outstretched arm, and slowly set the paper in it. Harry couldn't believe what he saw.  
  
Minister Free's Wizard Formerly Believed Dead  
  
Yesterday afternoon, after severe questioning the formerly believed dead wizard Peter Pettigrew was released by Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. While it seemed suspicious that Peter had chosen to remain silent for many years while the wizarding community mourned his supposed murder by the mass murderer Sirius Black, top ministry officials decided that Pettigrew poses no threat to the security of our world. The minister commented against some of the harsh criticism for his action "Honestly, the man is about as intelligent as a hamster. If he is in league with you-know-who than I'm a fluberworm's uncle." Fudge also reminded people that Sirius Black is still at large and considered dangerous.  
  
Harry set the paper down. The anger in his stomach began to rise quickly. He wanted to scream, or shout, or hit something, but he couldn't make a scene here. Ron and Hermione understood this, they quickly got up and, acting as one, propelled Harry up from his seat and out of the great hall. When out of ear shot Harry exploded. He tore up the copy of the paper still clutched tightly in his hand and said a few choice words that made even Ron blush. But Harry stopped when a cold voice rang out from behind him.  
  
"What are you doing Potter?"  
  
Snape approached with his usual look of extreme hatred, Professor McGonagall following right behind him. Harry wasn't in the mood to be bullied by Snape. He faced the Professor with a scowl.  
  
"I'm not doing anything," snapped Harry, hardly bothering to keep the impatience out of his voice.  
  
"Potter, what's wrong with you?" asked McGonagall in a concerned voice.  
  
"Nothing Professor," Harry answered trying to hide his anger, he wasn't sure if McGonagall knew the truth about Sirius. And he didn't want to end up having to answer and hard questions.  
  
Professor McGonagall gave him a very piercing stare as if she didn't really believe him, but sensing his turned to leave anyway. Snape however, did not seem ready to leave Harry alone. Snape considered Harry for a moment before bending down to pick up the town pieces of newspaper. With a quick muttered word Snape restored the paper to it's whole form.  
  
"What is this now?" he hissed, skimming over the paper. As he read his face went blank.  
  
"Well Severus," said McGonagall, who had stopped to wait for Snape. "What is it?"  
  
Harry could tell Snape was doing some quick thinking. "I'm sure you heard about Peter Pettigrew turning up this summer after being thought dead for 15 years."  
  
"Yes, I couldn't believe it. Have they figured out where he was for all that time?"  
  
"No," said Snape simply. "The ministry let him go yesterday."  
  
McGonagall waited for Snape to say more, but when it became obvious that he didn't intend to say anything else she stood up a bit straighter and adjusted her hat.  
  
"A very foolish thing for them to do without getting the full story. Do you think there is a chance that Sirius Black could be innocent?"  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had been watching the exchange between their two teachers quietly, now all opened their mouths. The smallest of a half glance from Snape stopped them.  
  
"The ministry does not think so," Snape said neutrally.  
  
McGonagall looked disappointed, for a quick second, but then resumed her strict, business-like manner. "I think it's time for you three to head to class. You don't want to be late."  
  
Harry fled very quickly. After he was sure they were out of earshot Harry stopped and turned to face his friends.  
  
"We can't let this happen. We've got to find a way to make Fudge listen."  
  
"How are we going to do that?" asked Ron looking unsure.  
  
"We've got to catch Pettigrew in the act of helping Voldemort."  
  
Ron looked stupefied, but Hermione found her voice. "Harry, that's crazy. There's no way that we can-"  
  
But Harry waved her silent, he didn't want to argue about it. He knew that Ron and Hermione wouldn't hesitate for a second to help a family member from being hurt. Sirius was Harry's family, his only family, and Harry didn't intend to stand around and watch as Ministry officials hunted Sirius down.  
  
"What class do we have now?" asked Harry, breaking the silence.  
  
"History of Magic," said Hermione.  
  
"Good," said Ron enthusiastically, and when Harry gave him a questioning look he added. "I could use a nap right about now."  
  
True to his word Ron slept through Professor Bin's lecture, but Harry for once, couldn't fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about how close his godfather had become to getting free, and twice now he had been foiled by wormtail. Deep down Harry knew that it was partially his fault that Sirius wasn't free yet. If he had allowed Sirius and Remus to kill Pettigrew when they had the chance he might never have escaped. If he had know then what would happen if he saved Peter's life he would have let the rat die.  
  
***  
  
The next few weeks Harry wasn't himself. Despite many efforts by both Ron and Hermione to cheer him up, he simply could not be cheery. Sirius had met him out on the grounds one night, and tried to tell Harry that he was okay, but even that didn't make Harry feel better. Finally, one afternoon after lunch Harry was stopped in the hallway by a familiar face.  
  
"Hello Harry," said Mrs. Figg with a friendly smile.  
  
"Hullo," said Harry, trying very hard to smile, but not quite managing.  
  
"I hear you've been feeling a bit down Harry, I wonder if I could have a word with you." "Now? But I have potions now."  
  
"It's okay Harry, I've gotten professor Snape's permission for you to be late."  
  
Harry goggled at her. Impressed and thankful at the same time he let her push him gently towards an empty class room. Ron and Hermione gave him beaming smiles at him and Mrs. Figg.  
  
"Don't worry Harry, we'll tell you what you missed," yelled Hermione as Harry entered the class room.  
  
The last look he had of his friends was Ron rolling his eyes and probably saying something insulting about Snape, but Harry couldn't hear.  
  
Harry had never been inside a classroom like this. In fact, he was pretty sure it wasn't a classroom at all. There were a handful of squishy arm chairs around a low coffee table. On the table were two cups of steaming tea and a few cookies. Mrs. Fig sat down and motioned for Harry to sit as well.  
  
He sank a few inches when he sat down in one of the chairs. It felt so good he didn't know if he could ever get out, even if he had wanted to, which he didn't. He took one of the cups of tea and sipped it in comforting silence. Neither he nor Mrs. Figg felt it was important to speak right away. Questions started to form in Harry's mind, and after a few minutes Harry decided to ask one.  
  
"Do you think Sirius will ever be cleared?"  
  
Mrs. Figg set down her cup and smiled. "I'm certain of it Harry. It's only a matter of time. Sirius has a few very loyal friends, and none of them will rest until he is. Even my cats are out trying their hardest to catch Peter."  
  
"Your cats," said Harry impressed. "Did you send them?"  
  
"No, they were personally offended when Fudge let Peter go after how much pain they went through catching him the first time. They insisted on going, I couldn't stop them."  
  
Harry stifled a laugh as he pictured a miniature Mrs. Figg trying to stop four gigantic cats from leaving her house.  
  
Mrs. Figg smiled even bigger. "From what I've heard Harry that's one of the first times you've laughed in a long time."  
  
Harry suddenly got very serious. In a second his worries about having saved Peter, about Sirius being hunted the rest of his life, about Voldemort, all came spilling out. Mrs. Figg came over and knelt by Harry's chair, putting two comforting hands on his shoulders.  
  
"Harry, none of this is your fault. Do you honestly think after seeing the way Fudge acted now that he would have freed Sirius if you had brought Peter back dead three tears ago?"  
  
Harry shook his head slowly. She was right, but that fact was little comfort to him.  
  
"I've always wanted a family," he said glumly. "But when I finally find my godfather I can't live with him, or even be out with him in public."  
  
"Harry, life had handed you a bad deal, that's for sure. But you have friends who support and love you, they are your family. Ron and Hermione would do anything for you, so would the entire Weasley family I'm betting, and Remus, and of course Arabella and I."  
  
Harry looked into Mrs. Figg's eyes. She was right again, he had family. Even though it wasn't the traditional type that lived in the same house, with a mother, father and children, it was a family none-the-less. A small pang of guilt popped up when he thought about this, realizing how he must have made Ron and Hermione feel the last few weeks.  
  
"You're right, Mrs. Figg. Thanks."  
  
The tiniest smile flickered on Harry's face again. Mrs. Figg stood up then, and Harry did the same. As he shuffled towards the door Mrs. Figg stopped him.  
  
"Stand up straight Harry, even when you think your back will break you must stand up straight. It distributes the weight you feel evenly on your body."  
  
Harry wasn't quite sure he understood what Mrs. Figg meant by this, but he straightened out his back as he said goodbye, and then headed down to the dungeons.  
  
Harry's steps where a little lighter than before, and he walked a little quicker. The dread he had felt pulling down his whole body was gone. With his back straight and chin held high he felt more confident than he had just 15 minutes ago. He stood outside the door to his potions class for a few seconds before going in, admittedly terrified about what Snape was going to do to him for coming in late. But Harry straightened himself up again, and braced himself for the worst. Let Snape do his worst, Harry was ready for it.  
  
Harry opened the door to the classroom, and did a quick glance around the room. Snape was no where to be seen. Ron and Hermione had saved him an empty seat next to them, and he headed quickly to it. But Harry's luck didn't hold out. As Harry got to his seat an all to familiar voice rang out across the dungeon.  
  
"Potter, you're late, hurry up and get started or you won't have time to finish."  
  
"I'm sorry Professor," said Harry quickly before Snape could take and points. "Mrs. Figg."  
  
"I'm aware of what you were doing Potter, but that does not make you any less behind." Harry sat down quickly and started getting his cauldron out.  
  
"I can't believe he didn't take any points from me," whispered Harry to Ron.  
  
"He's been acting strange today," Ron whispered back. "Neville spilt his worming solution before he had added the lily roots, and burnt a huge hole in the table, but Snape just fixed it up and told Neville to be more careful next time."  
  
Snape continued his strange behavior throughout the lesson until it was time for him to assign homework, which he did, and not just a little either. Harry could hardly hold back a groan as he copied down their assignment. It was going to take a whole weekend to do.  
  
"What do you think was up with Snape today?" asked Ron as soon as they were out of the classroom.  
  
"I don't know," said Harry. "But he's never given us this much homework."  
  
"Maybe it's a plan to make us think he's gone soft, so we don't do the homework and then when it's time to hand it in he'll be able to take off hundreds of points and give everyone's a weeks worth of detentions!" replied Ron enthusiastically.  
  
Harry laughed, and Hermione rolled her eyes, but they Harry caught them exchanging a quick glance with one another, they were relieved that Harry was laughing again.  
  
"I'm sorry for being so horrible the last few weeks guys."  
  
Ron and Hermione both grinned at him.  
  
"It's okay Harry," said Hermione.  
  
"Yeah, I reckon we should have done more to help prove Sirius innocent," said Ron.  
  
"It's okay Ron, Mrs. Figg told me that her cats are working on finding Peter again."  
  
"Really? What else did Mrs. Figg tell you?" asked Hermione.  
  
So as they headed up to the great hall for dinner Harry told them about everything Mrs. Figg had said. None of the three noticed the quiet steps of someone behind them. Ron was asking Harry a question when Harry stopped in his tracks and winced in pain as his hand flew to the scar on top of his head.  
  
"What is it Harry?" asked Ron while glancing about nervously.  
  
Hermione didn't say anything but got out her wand and pointed it as footsteps coming from behind them got closer. Harry scar stopped throbbing as Mundungus Fletcher came barreling around the corner. He beamed when he saw Harry.  
  
"Harry! Hullo there, how are you. Are these your friends? Jolly good to meet you. Mundungus Fletchers the name. Are you both in Gryffindor too? My son Davey's just been sorted there. First year, perhaps you've met him."  
  
Fletcher said this all very fast without giving anyone a chance to reply. Before anyone could muddle out which question to answer first another person flew around the opposite corner heading from the great hall. Snape, and he looked like he had just ran the entire way there, he was out of breath with a hand clasped to his side as inconspicuously as possible. At the look of horror on Snape's face when he saw Mundungus Harry would have thought it was the dark Lord himself rather than a dumpy man in violently yellow robes.  
  
"Severus! I'm so glad you stumbled upon me, I was just looking for you. As we didn't get a chance to catch up before I thought a nice private lunch in your office would be just the ticket. I had the house elves send dome food down there. I know how much you like to eat-"  
  
"You did WHAT?" asked Snape in a mixture of anger and disbelief.  
  
Mundungus just laughed. He seemed to be used to Snape's sometimes less than friendly nature, and used to it.  
  
"Don't worry my dear chap, I know you though I would forget your liking for spicy-"  
  
"Thank you Mundungus," Snape cut him off in clear exasperation.  
  
"Well then," Mundungus turned to wink at Harry. "I'll be seeing you Harry, Ron, Hermione." He nodded at each one of them and then with a tight grip pulled Snape off in the direction of the office.  
  
The look of displeasure on Snape's face was priceless. Harry didn't know whether to feel sorry for the man or laugh at him.  
  
Ron had opted for laughter, but Hermione looked puzzled.  
  
"We never told him our names," she said suspiciously.  
  
***  
  
"Was it a success?" asked a cold voice to a hooded man.  
  
"Well, it did not go exactly as we had liked." said the hooded man.  
  
"And why not," replied the cold voice with a deathly calm. "I was interrupted."  
  
"By whom?"  
  
"By the traitor."  
  
There was a very pregnant and very chilling pause before the cold voice spoke again.  
  
"Wormtail, now that you are back make yourself useful. Bring the traitor to me, it's time that he pays for this- interruption."  
  
*** 


End file.
